Cross Over
by foreverlostindreams
Summary: All she did was try to save a child from a strange cult. Who would of thought that that simple act would throw her entire world upside down? Now she's stuck in a strange world that seems to harbor a strange love for food. Her fate is now in the hands of an even stranger man.
1. The Act

The girl sighed silently as the professor talked about some chemical equation that would be on the next exam. The equation itself wasn't that bad except the professor neglected to explain on how to DO the equation because she canceled the class the week before so now the class is behind. 'As if being here at 7:45 till 9:45 in the morning isn't bad enough' the girl mused as she stifled a yawn while readjusting yet again in hopes of staying awake. Morning classes work better since she was more attentive and motivated in the morning but this professor was just not making the chemistry class exciting at all. On the bright side at least she knew what she was talking about. She quickly glanced up at the clock. '5 more minutes to go' she thought, silently praying the class will be out early. "Alright everybody. Don't forget to do the homework it's already posted online. I'll see you all next week." The professor said. After quickly grabbing her stuff the girl made a bee line for the door as the rest of the class gathered their items for the next class. Since her next class wasn't for another hour she decided to kill some time in the computer lab. _'But bathroom first_' She thought as she walked down the hall passing some classrooms in session. Walking into the bathroom, the girl quickly did her business and went to wash her hands. Glancing up, she took a look at herself. Her shoulder length brown hair was up in a ponytail. Not cause it went with her sage green tank top (which was her favorite shirt with the laces tying the low valley between her chest) or the flood pants she was wearing; it was just easier to put it up and out of the way. After drying her hands she quickly went down the stairs to the computer lab. 'It always gets busy after a certain time' She mused as she got out her id card with her picture on it. She was pretty proud of it since for once she actually looked good for a picture. When she finally reached the lab she took a peek in and saw all the computers were being used. 'Damn. Good thing I brought one of my books.' She mused yet again.

Now that the lab was full her new task was to find a place to sit. The couches were always full between 10 and 12 and the stairways were a little cold and dirty. She thought for a few minutes before deciding she'll just take a short walk instead. The building she was in wasn't that big so she decided to walk around the block instead. The block itself wasn't that big but if she walked the next block over along with it that could kill at least 40 minutes.  
'_Hope the bag doesn't kill my shoulders too much. Argh! This is what happens when I schedule 4 classes on the same day! Argh! I should of brought my gym cloths I could have killed some time there!_' Normally when she has free time she usually goes to the gym when she's not studying (which to be honest she doesn't do that much of) or reading (which she does too much of). The wind was lightly blowing as she walked through the doors. _'On second thought I'll just read out here. No sense in getting all sweaty and smelly for class_.' She thought as she took a seat on the cement wall. After digging around a bit in her bag she somehow managed to find her much worn copy of her favorite book. It wasn't one of the popular books that were circulating around but she liked it well enough not to mention she loved this particular author as well. Every time a new book came out by this one she bought it on the spot. Soft cover though not hard cover. Hard covers are so expensive and almost all of her money went to school for classes and books. She cringed a bit thinking how much the prices have gone up since she first started and the job she had at the moment didn't really pay that much. Too bad she didn't get that other one that paid 9 dollars an hour. That would have been nice to have along with this one. After all, college doesn't pay for itself. '_Or books for that matter_' She thought with a cringe as she remembered how much she paid for just 3 books. '600 bucks for books and used ones at that. That's enough to pay for another class. Argh. And to think that once I'm done here I have to transfer to another one just to finish my degree.' She mused with annoyance as she settled in to read. After picking up where she left off she only got to read a few pages before hearing her lovely yet annoying phone. The phone itself wasn't bad; only 50 bucks but the only thing she hated most were those stupid ring tones it had and none were easy on the ears and to make matters worse she can't download any new ones onto it.  
Digging the phone out of her purse she took a quick look and saw that it was her friend Cheryl. 'Haven't heard from her in a while. Wonder what's up' Quickly answering on the third ring she went. "Hey Cheryl! What's up?" "Hey Andrea. Are you busy tonight?" Replied an older woman's voice. She met Cheryl a few years ago when she first started going here and discovered that there was an anime club. After going the first time she met her and the two hit it off right away. They hit it off even more when they discovered their love for cats. Andrea had to laugh a bit when she was first brought to her house and saw that she was indeed a crazy cat lady. 'At least she's sane. To a degree.' She thought with an inward laugh. "Yea I have a 2 hour class in about an hour, an hour long lab, maybe some free time and last but not least a 4 hour class at 4 after that." Andrea replied back, trying to remember what time her last class for the day ended. "Ok what time do you get out cause there's a thing tonight at 6 and goes on till 9." "I don't know what a thing is Cheryl." She said with amusement in her voice. "It's a fashion show for that one club." Cheryl replied, from the sounds of it she was trying to remember the name of the club. "All I can remember is that it's a bunch of guys in drag along with some girls." Andrea blinked a bit before laughing a bit. She heard and saw a posters of the fashion but she can't remember the name of the club either. All she could remember was that it was big for gay rights. "I know what you're talking but no. Sadly I don't get out till 8 or 9. Maybe 10 if there's no bull crap from the professor but if I get out early I can maybe catch a bit." She heard a soft sad sigh on the other end of the phone. "Damn. Ah well if you get the chance you should come. " She heard a crash in the background. "I gotta go. One of the cats just knocked over my shelves dang it. Later." "Later Cheryl. Talk to you later." She said as she hung up the phone. When she did she saw that it was almost 10:45. "Crap! I'm gotta be late!" She exclaimed as she scrambled to make a run for it. Sadly it was on the fourth floor and maybe 5 or 6 minutes to get there. Hope the elevator is working today.

Hours Later

'_Finally! Freedom!_' Andrea exclaimed mentally as she quickly rushed out of the ivy covered music building. It wasn't that big only two or three stories. Of course she's just assuming its three she didn't have the time to look around. Taking a deep breath of the cool evening air she checked her phone and saw that the fashion show is practically over. 'Sorry Cheryl. I'll give you a call tomorrow. Won't have time any more tonight. If I hurry I can just catch the bus and be into work early enough to actually go home and get a decent night sleep. At least I don't have an early class tomorrow.' As she made her way to the bus stop she winced a bit as she adjusted her heavy bag. '_Gosh darn heavy books. REALLY sick of them. Can't wait to unload them at the end of the year. Except maybe the music note one. Could probably use that to practice more_.' Of course it also didn't help with the added weight of her precious violin and its case.  
Suddenly without warning she saw the bus go right past her. "Oh shit!" She exclaimed aloud and tried to make a break for the stop but the bus just flying by it. Chances are quite good the driver saw her making a break for it but just kept going. She cursed again, not caring about the stares she got from the passerby's. Now she had to walk in the freaken dark by freaken dark alleys and such JUST to get to the damn bus station. Doesn't help she's downtown to boot. LUCKY her. Sighing deeply she briskly walked as fast as she could with 100 pounds of books but the walk was quite slowed by the weight. If luck was with her she'd make it in time for the bus she needed. Hopefully she can make it in time cause it was the only one that went directly by her work. On days like this she just LOVED being a janitor, working late and such. Her back was already killing her. Sighing deeply she proceeded to walk past an alley by an old abandoned. God she hated walking down the streets after dark and that right there was the very reason. Well, two if one included the darken alley with its many places to hide and such. Worst of all she hated to see such a beautiful building go used. This one in particular was three stories high with detail on the top. If she had to take a guess she'd have to say maybe the 1930's? The buildings from around that time period were always nice looking. Much better than some of the so-called modern ones, those were just so ugly. Well, maybe not all of them but some of the newer ones lacked this one's grace and beauty.  
A muffled scream brought her out of her musings. 'W_hat the..?_' she started to think when it came again only this time louder and with it came the faint sounds of a fight. Quickly looking around for the source she happened to look just in time to see four figures wrestling in the alley. '_Is it a kidnapping or something?_' She thought, trying to get a better look at them. From what she could tell in the gloom three of the four figures were dressed in some cloaks. The fourth one was quite smaller than the others but had what appeared to be some sort of bag over their head. '_Shit. Its worse than I thought. I better call the police!_' She thought as she quickly dug into her purse trying to find it. The ONE time she didn't have the damn thing in her pants pocket OR bothered to clean the stupid purse. After feeling around at what seemed like a snail's pace she quickly turned the lock off and was in the process of calling 911 when the struggling figures vanished into the empty building. "911 What's your emergency?" came the dispatcher's voice. "There's someone being taken against their will! There's three cloaked guys and they have a kid! They just took them into the building! Hurry!" Andrea replied as she quickly hung up on the dispatcher. Much as she hated to do that but by the time the cops got here the poor kid could be dead or worse. Quickly putting her stuff down in a safe place she quickly but quietly followed the path the figures took. 'Watch.' She thought grimly, _'By the time the cops get here it'll be too late for the kid! Argh! Sad part is the station's two blocks over_.'  
As she entered she noticed that there were two doorways; door number one appeared to be leading down into the basement and door number two appeared to be leading into more of the building's many rooms. The question now was this: which way did they go and why the hell did she come after them alone instead of waiting for the police like a normal person? Just as she was about to play pick-a-door a noise was faintly heard echoing from door number one. '_Guess to the basement it is_' She thought grimly as the girl made her way to the door. Taking a quick look Andrea took the first tentative step onto an old wooden flight of stairs. 'Haven't seen stairs like these in a while' She mused as she slowly made her way down. Walking down a bunch of old rickety stairs was definitely NOT her idea of fun but what was the alternative? Do nothing and let an innocent die, being killed by a bunch of idiots in cloaks? Speaking of cloaks who the hell wears cloaks these days? Last time she checked it was 2013 and the only cloaks she's ever seen were at the anime conventions and maybe at some goth stores like Hot Topics or Spencers.

Although she wasn't soft and squishy (terms she used for the truly innocent) she wasn't evil enough to turn a blind eye to this situation. C'mon, how many people would stop long enough to call the cops let alone attempt a daring rescue? As she neared the bottom she sent a silent prayer to whoever was listening that she'd make it in time. Upon reaching the crumbling doorway she reached into her back pocket and took out a small taser. It may look small but after letting a friend tweak it a bit it packed 10 times the normal amount. '_Enough to put a grown man on his back for quite a while. I hope._' Pressing herself flat against the wall by the door she listened hard and was rewarded with the sound of soft chanting drifting in from the next room. 'Oh jeez its even more worse than I originally thought.' She growled silently to herself. Instead of worrying about two people she more than likely had to worry about ten or more.  
'_Just hope the police get here so they can nail this stupid cult. The kid better be ok or else the police will have bodies to worry about instead_.' She thought darkly, angered by the thought that these disgusting people would go through with hurting someone who couldn't fight back. Vowing not to let even ONE member to get unpunished she quietly entered the room, noting the many boxes and a few foundation pillars. Luck must be with her tonight because all of the members had their backs to her, noting that the group was quite lager, maybe 15 or more people wearing cloaks (seriously, what is with cults and cloaks?) kneeling before some sort of alter while continuing the strange soft chant. It was too soft to hear the words but loud enough to know what was going on. Silently making her way into the room she stealthily made her way to some of the boxes and pillars. Andrea was grateful for the hiding place because without them she'd be in deep trouble.  
Suddenly she heard yelling and screaming coming from the doorway and quickly ducked down further into the shadows. Just as she did the two figures from before (at least she thinks its them. The heights are about the same) but instead of just the kid who's struggling to get away from the one that was holding him the person's partner appeared to be dragging someone who appeared to be knocked out cold behind him. 'Shit.' Andrea thought grimly. Getting a kid out of here will be difficult enough but to get two? This really became more of a challenge.  
"Is everything going according to plan?" a soft voice came floating out, seeming to be coming from somewhere behind the strange alter. The only problem was that there was no space behind it and the wall was solid concrete. Maybe there was a hole behind it or something? Suddenly a figure appeared out of thin air. 'The hell?! How the hell did they appear?! No one can just appear out of nowhere!' As the new figure straighten themselves out the men holding the hostages came forward and tossed them in front of the strange new person. "Here are the sacrifices our Master." Said one of the hooded figures as they held the struggling child down as three new figures rose from the kneeling position and proceeded to tie the child. The mysterious figure reached out, making the long sleeve reveal a delicate arm and hand. 'A woman?' The hand gently took off the older prisoner's hood, revealing a young man. "He's perfect. Is the child at the maturity level? I would be extremely displeased if we miss it again." The soft voice said. For some reason the voice sent shivers up her spine. Why the hell would someone care if a kid reached puberty? Then one of the kidnappers pulled his head back, revealing a very disheveled older guy with an ugly looking scar running across the bridge of his nose and appeared to be in his late thirties. "Of course our Master. In ten minutes the child will be at the peak of ripeness." He replied, dragging up the unconscious man. "Even more perfect. If we missed this time we would have to wait for another 1000 years for another brat to mature. Honestly, such trouble it causes trying to capture one at this stage let alone fighting the parents off. Even more trouble to FIND one so close to being ripe. Now tell me; what is this delightful looking man here for?"  
"He's this world's sacrifice our Master. We went through a lot of trouble of finding the perfect one for you." He replied, reaching down and yanking the man up. The female figure pulled him towards her, getting a better look. Without warning she shoved her hand threw his heart and yanked it out. Andrea quickly covered her mouth to keep from gasping out loud. What the hell is going on?! "Our Master isn't pleased with the sacrifice?!" The man asked, stunned at his Master's reaction. The woman took her hand back out of the dead man, heart and all, and brought the bloody gift to under her hood. '_Oh my god is she eating it?_!' She thought with horror. What did she just get herself into? The female coughed a bit and dropped the bitten heart. "Not the one. Can't you fools do anything right?! Ah well. I guess one of you will make do in a pinch." At that remark the group of people, who had been praying and watching the event, shifted nervously. '_Ok! I think its time to end this event_.' Andrea thought, looking around to see what she could do to distract this bunch. Noticing a candle nearby gave her an idea. That could work: the building is mostly rotted and ripe for a fire but if she used that method she'll have to quickly grab the kid and run like hell.

"How can you fools screw up a simple task?! All you had to do was find a stupid human who could eat the damn fruit!" The woman howled at them. The sound was quite inhuman and sent a cold shiver threw her. "He was quite compatible with the fruit our Master." was the reply from one of the men. 'alright_. I can do this._' The girl thought as she grabbed the nearest candle. Luck must be with her given how easy it was to snatch the candle. Now then, if the distraction was great enough she can feet the kid and get out of here. Probably. Another sign of luck was that there was plenty of trash and boxes thrown about ready to be burned. '_if worse comes to worst I can always sent one of these sickos on fire.__' _She thought grimly as she carefully lit some nearby trash on fire. Actually that wasn't a bad idea. These freaks already killed one person already so they can't complain if they get killed themselves. After checking to see the people upfront weren't looking her way she quickly crawled to the nearest person and gently lowered the candle long enough for the cloak to catch fire. Maybe she'd better have two on fire, just to be safe. Slowly reaching out she repeated the step to them when someone finally noticed the small blaze. Perfect. "Someone put tat fire out before thus whole place burns around us!" The woman shrieked, causing the group to jump to their feet and tried to put it out. She stifled a laugh as the two she set on fire finally noticed their dilemma and proceeded to run like chickens without heads. '_haven't they heard of stop, drop and roll? Ah well._"

Thanks to them running around the fools had made the small fire even bigger. Works for her cause they just made it easier to get the kid, who has by now stopped struggling. Hope they didn't pass out. As Andrea made her way over, someone grabbed her arm and yanked her over. "You! You've made this mess you little...!" The woman started but got stopped in mid sentence due to getting tased in the stomach. "Hmph! Serves you right! I hope that hurts!" Andrea growled a bit at the twitching woman and gently bent over and picked up the kid. "Let's get you out of here little one. Hold on tight!" She told them as she somehow got the kid onto her back. With the kid firmly on her back she ran like the wind towards the door, barely dodging the screaming people. It seemed like forever but she finally reached the stairways and rushed up them, uncaring on how old they were. Hopefully there were people outside. They have to be, not after hearing the screams from below. Bursting into the alley she rushed to the road, never more glad to see such a fa mailer sight. Breathing hard she gently set her cargo onto the ground. Where the heck are the police?! They should of been here by now!" She growled aloud as she looked up and down the street. It suddenly dawned on her that she never crave the address for the place let alone a road name. Cursing loudly she quickly rushed to get her purse when a police car pulled up. "Yes!" She quickly rushed over to the car as the officer got out. "I'm so glad your here! There's an injured child over there and there's a fire in the basement of that building!" "Calm down ma'am. What child? What fire? Are you the one who called earlier?" Andrea nodded quickly, making her ponytail bob fast. "Yes! The kid's over there!" She replied as she quickly went back to help the kid but stopped fast. "What...?"

Later the next day

She grumbled as she moped the floor. Somehow the child she went threw so much trouble to try and save was not only gone but the fire and the people had somehow vanished. No trace of fire nor activity was found down in the basement. How the heck could that be?! She'd seen everything for herself! Even starting the fire! After trying to explain what had occurred to police lice officer he went down and checked everything himself and came back with nothing. All Andrea got for her trouble was a trip to the station and a warning about false alarms. At least that was all she got. "Could of been worse. At least work was kind enough to let me work on some other building." She mused to herself, stifling a yawn. Being up almost 20 hours didn't help cause and not to mention she had to bring all her school stuff with her. "I so can't wait to get home and sleep. Hm?" A noise from the lunchroom got her attention. No one was here today. Maybe her stuff fell over and spilled out. Great. Just what she didn't need. Putting the mop back into the bucket she quickly rushed to the back just in time to see a small child looking at beer books. "How in the world did you get in here?" She asked the child, looking at them closely.

From what she could see it appeared to be a girl no older then 9 with long black hair and the palest skin she has ever seen. Looking up at her she saw that her eyes were the darkest green she has ever seen when suddenly the girl vanished. "!?" "All who were at the ceremony must be punished." A voice said from behind her, causing her to jump half a foot into the air. Whipping around she turned just in time to see the little girl open her mouth to reveal rows of sharp teeth. This can't be happening! She quickly backed away from her. "W...w...what c..ceremony?" She asked, trying to think of what the heck was happening and how it was. Suddenly the girl was right in front of her. "No more talk." Was the reply and the girl pushed Andrea backwards. All she had time to do was let out a shriek of surprise and the sensation of falling threw something. She fall forward and backwards, tumbling in whatever that nothing pushed her into whatever the hell this was. Everything was moving too fast for her to get a good look. Without warning the world suddenly opened up and she saw what appeared to be a jungle before. '_A jungle?_' was all she had time to think when she was suddenly spit out into the jungle. "Eeeeeeeee!" She yelped as she landed on a soft hard wall.

"Whoa there! I got ya!" came a deep rumbling voice. Looking up she saw that she had landed on a very large man with navy blue hair, deep brown eyes and what appears to be three large scars right under his left eye. The man had to be at least over seven feet, making her measly 5'6 look even tinier. She quickly jumped off him like something better, quickly looking around trying to get her bearings. "Is she alright Toriko-san?" A soft timid voice said, coming from her left and she quickly turned to face the new person. Which turned out to be a boy. Or at least appeared to be a boy due to his height which was quite short a compared to her. He was wearing what to be military style cloths, a hard hat and was pointing a shotgun at her. Her eyes widen and backed up fast, hitting yet again the huge man. "Easy Komatsu! Just a girl!" The big man told the little guy, who quickly dropped the gun in a panic. "I'm so sorry miss! I thought you were another huge animal!" The little guy, Komatsu was it?, told her as she quickly moved away from the men. Trying to sound more calm then what she was feeling she asked in a shaky voice, "W..where a..am I? What is this place? How did I get here?"


	2. Galala Crocodile

**Toriko's View of Things**

To say that this turn of events weren't amusing would be the understatement of the year. The large man stifled a laugh as he watched the new girl pace a bit, appearing to try and calm herself even though her outward appearance betrayed no sign of agitation. It doesn't take a genius to see that the girl wasn't from around these parts. Her cloths and her attitude gave her away that she was a city girl just lost in the woods. Unfortunately for her this island wasn't a good place to be lost in if one isn't up to par. Toriko watched Komatsu as he tried his best to help calm her down. "So let me get this straight: I'm in a place that is obsessed with food, there are two parts of the world called the human world and the Gourmet World, your a chief for the said human world and he's a what again?" The large man chuckled and replied, "I'm a Bishokuya, I collect different ingredients for different organizations and such or just because I want to eat it." The girl just shook her head slightly and sat down next to the fire. Standing up to stretch he asked, curious, "How did you exactly get here? Its not everyday that girls fall from mysterious portals in the sky." '_Not to mention pretty cute. Hm? Now where did that come from?_' The hunter asked himself mentally as the girl sighed slightly. "As I said before: I was trying to help this kid get away from these stupid cultist group, got him out of there, almost got arrested for "making a false claim"" She did little air marks as she said this before continuing, "Called work and they said I could work on another building to make up my hours and the next thing I know this creepy girl with rows of teeth showed up and pushed me." She looked over in his direction. "I believe you know the rest." Komatsu nodded. "Right. As we were walking through the woods we saw this portal thing open up from the sky and the next thing we knew you fell out of it." The little chief looked over in Toriko's direction. "If it wasn't for you catching the scent we would never have known what had happened." The girl blinked a bit before looking at the hunter asking, "Catching the scent?" He repressed a shiver those eyes had sent through him. What was wrong with him today? Toriko nodded. "Let's just say I can smell things a lot better than any dog." "Better than a dog's nose?! How's that possible?!" She exclaimed. Again he had to suppress a laugh. Her reactions and expressions were just too funny but he doubt she'd appreciate the laugh at her expense.

"Let's save that for tomorrow. It's late and we all need our rest. We're gonna need it if we're going to catch that Galala Gator!" The hunter said as he started towards the jungle. "Where are you going? Its late and really dark out there." The girl called after him, making him stop in his tracks. Turning his head to look at her he replied, "I'll be fine. There isn't a thing on this island that can me head on." With that said he headed out into the night. Once away from camp Toriko shook his head as though trying to shake something off. '_What is going on with me?_' He mused to himself. Ever since that girl fell on him his head and body haven't felt right but that may be just cause of her scent. What she said so far has to true; his nose detected the scents of cleaning chemicals and with it carried the scent of something highly dangerous. At the moment he couldn't prove it was so he'll just keep that to himself. No need to get her even more agitated. He chuckled a bit. She is somewhat a good actress, acting all calm like and such but her scent is giving her away. Due to her fear she is releasing a scent that will most likely draw some of the local animals over. '_Good thing we happened to be here when we did. She's pretty defenseless out here by herself. At least Komatsu has me to look out for him. Speaking of_ _animals.._' He got the scent of one nearby. It's probably best to deal with this now...

**Next day**

"What is up with all this noise?! Its so loud! I know the wilderness is suppose to be full of noises but this is ridiculous!" Andrea grumbled out as she covered her ears. She was hoping that all this was a bad dream, that she'd wake up in her nice comfy bed but alas, no such luck. "Ah, Toriko-san said its just the voices of the wild beasts Andrea-san. Ah, I mean Setsuna-san." Komatsu told her, clinging a bit to his rifle. Toriko and Andrea decided after talking a bit that it would be a good idea to use a different name for now.

**~Flash Back~**

"An alias? What for? I doubt that ANYONE is gonna know me or anything! I've never been to this crazy world or any other world before!" Andrea said indignantly, crossing her arms over her chest. "Sides that, I don't think those fools from the night before are gonna recognize me or anything! There was too much mayhem going on!" The big man sighed deeply as he once again explained his reason. "Look. All I'm saying is for now just use a different name. You said it yourself: Something brought you here. Chances are good that the ones from your world may be on our side as well. It'll just be safer to use an alias for now." Toriko looked at her seriously. "I'm not saying this just for fun. This world is dangerous enough even if you know what your doing. I can tell from just looking at you that your nowhere NEAR ready for this place let alone some of the more dangerous places." "But I..." Andrea stopped in mid-sentence. The look on his face was dead serious, his eyes hard yet full of concern. She sighed deeply. "I guess your right..." She grumbled out, trying not to blush. "It's alright Andrea. It's not so bad in the human world." Komatsu said cheerfully. "I'm a chief over there! If you like, while your working on getting home, you could get a job or something at the restaurant. Although I'm not sure if we're hiring..." He added the last part with a sigh, as if almost hating to offer something and have to take it away. She laughed slightly and reached over to ruffle his hair. "Thanks Komatsu. If things don't work out I'll take you up on your offer." Komatsu nodded with a smile. "Now then... what should your name be?" He started right before Andrea said, "Setsuna." "Eh?" Both boys went, staring at her in confusion. "Setsuna?" Komatsu asked as she nodded. "Why that name?" Toriko asked, kinda curious as to pick a name like that. She blushed a bit, making her seem cute as she replied shyly, "There are two characters from a couple of books I read that had that name hat I admired so I decided that if I ever get the chance I'd use that name." Toriko chuckled. "Oh really? That's it?" He asked, stretching out on the ground. Andrea nodded. "That and I always thought it was a cute name!" She added with a smile. '_Not as cute as you' _the boys thought at the same time, tinging a bit at the smile.

**~End of Flash Back~**

The girl smiled a bit. The little guy may be such a timid and tiny fellow but his heart was in the right place. "Thanks Komatsu. I keep telling you there's no need to add the -san to my name." "Eh?! B..but it's disrespectful if I call you by your first name." The hunter chuckled a bit and added, "He's just saying what I told him the other day. Now remember, pay attention. The animals here are levels 3 and higher." "Levels? What are those?" Andrea...Setsuna asked the giant hunter. "Levels indicate on how strong the capture level of an animal is. The stronger the animal, the higher the capture level." She nodded, slightly confused. Capture levels? "So what is the level of the... Galala Gator thing your after?" She asked. "The Galala Gator. Um... s..supposedly it's a capture 3 but..." Komatsu said, looking around nervously as if something will jump out at him. "Ok. And why are you guys out here trying to catch it?" "The company I work for hired Toriko-san to capture the Galala Gator alive if possible so we could serve it at a party their throwing." She blinked a bit at that. "Wait, wait, wait. Let me get this straight: you guys are out here hunting gators in a very dangerous place JUST so it can be eaten at a party?! Are you for real?!" "Food is the main drive for this world. Each person has their own reasons for either cooking it, eating it and the like." Toriko reasoned a bit. "What are your reasons for being out here Toriko?!" The girl growled a bit. What is wrong with these people?! Out in god knows where hunting an animal with whatever capture level JUST so they can serve it at some stupid party! The large man chuckled yet again. She really is amusing to watch to say the least. "I have two reasons why I do what I do." "Those being wha?" Andrea...Setsuna. At the moment she's Setsuna. Gotta remember that. "That's easy. I just want to eat it" Setsuna blinked again. "Say wha?" "I only hunt what I want to eat and eat only what I hunt. " "Ok..?" She said slightly confused again. This is going to be a really weird trip. Without warning she bumped into the hunter's back. "Ouch! What did you stop for?" She asked when Toriko suddenly said sharply, "Quiet. Don't say anything or move." "Eh?! Why Toriko-san?" The man behind her asked when suddenly before them a huge -tiger like animal appeared."

Her eyes felt like they were going to bug out of her head. '_That thing is about the size of an armored car!_' The voice in the back of her head shouted. '_**Baron Tiger. Mammal Beast. Capture Level**_** 3.****' **An unknown voice said in her head. Komatsu started shaking and began to fumble around with the rifle as Toriko suddenly got a demonic like look on his face as he stared at the...tiger.. As suddenly as the animal appeared it left as the little guy finally managed to get a hold of the gun properly. " ..!" He shouted as he set up but quickly noticed it was gone. "Huh?" He went, staring blankly at the spot where it had been. '_Who the heck was that in my head?!_' She wondered, quickly looking around trying to see if there was a source. Who's voice was that? It certainly wasn't hers! The voice was female that much she could... if she could tell since it was there long enough to say the name and vanished. "As I thought, something's strange is going on. The Baron Tiger usually lives deep in the marsh. Something must of drove the Friday Monkeys we saw back by the reefs. For cowardly monkeys known to hide in caves for their entire lives to be in a place like that. It must be because an extremely stronger predator!" Komatsu paled a bit at that statement. '_Friday Monkeys? Predators? What the hell have I been dropped into?!_' She agonized as she asked aloud, "Wouldn't the top predator be the gator your hunting? I think you mentioned somewhere that it was the ruler of this place." "Um.. T..Toriko-san...um... like Setsuna said.. it's the Galala Gator. I'm sure..." Komatsu answered. Toriko looked at him before asking, "What do you mean?" The chief went on to explain that the information he was given suggests that the gator was close to 300 years old and may now be a capture level of 5 instead of 3. At the end of the explanation Toriko went, "Hou... that's some interesting new data." "I..it's not interesting at all!" Komatsu shouted in a panic, looking like he's five minutes from total freak out. The giant hunter put his hands on his hips and asked simply, "What happens to the "taste"?" "Eh?" Komatsu went as the girl asked curiously, "What do you mean taste?"

A bit of drool started to form as he continued, "A 300 year old Galala Crocodile... the meat's taste would mature and become better, wouldn't it?" He a got a gleam in his eyes, appearing lost in thought in the thought of trying to eat it. "I want to try eating it!" To himself he thought, '_One might be decided... one item of my Full Course Menu! Maybe I'll use them for the first time in a while... fork and knife!_' '**Someone once said that somewhere in the world there exists an ingredient so delicious you can't even blink your eyes. With a 'scent' that makes you forget to exhale and before you know it, it becomes impossible to stop drooling. And at the moment it's been eaten your body will give out a cry as if it's been born** **again..!' **"Now who the hell is that?! Am I hearing things?!" Setsuna growled out as she quickly whipped her head around, trying to locate that voice. "Are you alright Setsuna-san...ah Setsuna?" Komatsu asked in a concern voice, worry on his features. She sighed silently and replied with a smile, "I'm fine. I must be hearing things so please don't mind me." "Your not going crazy are you?" Toriko added in with concern. She twitched a bit that. "No. I am NOT going crazy! Jeesh! If anyone's crazy it's you for hunting an extremely dangerous creature!" He laughed at that bold statement and started walking, giving her the feeling he did think she was nuts. "This is going to be a really REALLY long day." She muttered as the group followed him deeper into the marsh. She tried not to grumble as she walked, walking around the roots of trees when Toriko suddenly said, "By the way Komatsu... From here on there aren't any beasts that you can kill with a rifle." "EH?!" Komatsu shouted in disbelief. Can't kill with rifles? That's hard to believe. As the group continued to walk she suddenly noticed that Toriko got way ahead of them. "Toriko-san! Wait up for us! We're falling way behind!" "Can't you walk more slowly for us?! Your walking way too fast for us to be able to keep up!" Setsuna called after the large man. Jeesh. Wasn't he the one telling them to careful yet here he was going way yonder?

A rustle in some nearby bushes was all the warning they had when suddenly a frog like monster popped up, making Komatsu let out a yell and made the girl jump nearly ten feet into the air. "What the hell is that?!" She almost shouted, noticing that it's skin was blue, had a wide set face that somewhat resembled a snake but had the features of a frog. Without warning it suddenly keeled over earning a "what the hell" reaction from the two. Toriko sighed deeply as he walked over and picked the dead thing up with ease. "Jeesh you two. Don't be making noise over every little thing. What was that Ngyyaa Komatsu? Setsuna really? Don't all girls scream or something?" "Not every woman has to scream Toriko." She retorted back, biting back a growl. Really now! It should of been obvious by now that she wasn't a delicate girl! "S...sorry.. It's my first time seeing a live snake frog. I always handled them in the kitchen." Komatsu told Toriko, looking a bit sheepish. "Eh?! You mean you handle things like that in a kitchen?!" She asked in shock. What kind of kitchen handles monsters like that?! "Why not Setsuna? These guys are a delicacy for their livers." She turned a bit green on that. "Livers...really?" "Yup!" Toriko answered with a boyish grin. Suddenly feeling her face heat up she quickly turned around to hide it from him. What the hell? "K...whatever you say.." was all she replied as Komatsu shouted, "Something's stuck on me! Toriko-san what is this?!" The girl quickly turned back to face them to see a huge leech on his hand. The creature was roughly the size of a basketball and was sucking away at his blood. "That looks like a leech. Are they normally that big?" She asked, quickly cheeking to see if she got one on her somewhere. "Correct Setsuna. It's a leech. It's just sucking your blood so don't pay it any mind." "I do mind! It's gross!" The little guy shouted again, panicking once again. She stifled a laugh. Ever since she met these two she noticed the little guy was always quick to panic. Just as he was about to use his other hand to get it off Toriko said, "Hey, hey. If you try to force it it'll only make the wound bigger. Hang on for a second." With that said he dug around in his pocket for a minute and pulled out some leaves. "What are those?" The two asked as Toriko replied, "Mangrove leaves. You saw them at the island's entrance remember Komatsu? Let me see your hand." Komatsu stuck his hand out as the hunter raised the hand holding the leaves just above the leech and began to squeeze them. After a few seconds a few drops started to appear at the bottom and when they got enough liquid the drops fell onto the leech which fell off a split second later. "UWAH! You got it off! How?!" Much as she hate to admit but she wanted to know as well. How can a droplet of water from a leaf make a leech come off? Unless... was the lead salty somehow?

"Leeches hate it when you put salt on them." Toriko answered, still holding the leaf in his hand. "Eh? S..salt?" Komatsu asked, surprise on his face. "The mangrove's roots deposit the salt content of the seawater they absorb into the leafs. So the mangrove's leaves and fruit get so salty that even bugs won't eat them." Komatsu pulled out a pen and paper and proceeded to write down this new Intel. "I see- So that surprised the leech then.." Toriko continued on. "But depending on the type, there are leaves that are edible. So study up on it Chef Komatsu." Komatsu continued taking note. "I'm taking notes." He mumbled a bit as he finished up the last bit and continued to follow the giant hunter. Setsuna stifled a laugh. These two are quite funny to listen to and watch. Not that she was complaining about the new information, she was grateful to have it in case something happens. As the trio continued to make their way further into the marsh the girl took the opportunity to study the man in front of her. As before, the man's frame was definitely huge. If she was a gambler she'd bet her entire book collection that all that mass on him was pure muscles. His height was a bit intimating though. Toriko had to be pushing at least 7 or at the very least 7'2 but she wasn't very good at judging distances. And what was with his outfit? An orange job suit with knee high black boots with the pants tucked into them. Who the heck wore that bright of a color in the wild? '_Although he does give me the impression that not many will screw with him._' She mused as she continued her study. Blue hair that went to the back of his neck, she suspected that it was naturally that color. Brown catlike eyes (at least they seemed catlike at times) strong, angular facial features with three scars that started under his left ear to his ear. In her opinion he wasn't that bad looking, massive yes, but not bad looking. '_At leas he has a very nice backside._' Setsuna thought as her gaze drifted to his lower extremities. She blinked a bit. Ok! Somehow this became a checking out time to move onto the other man. Komatsu wasn't that tall to be sure. If she again had to bet she'd say he would be about 5'1 give or take. She was taller then him by at least 4 or 5 inches. Brownish black hair, depending on the light hit it, brown eyes as well, and to be blunt gave her the impression he was still a child. Must be the height and the way he's acting, although its quite funny at times. He was kinda cute in his own way.

She looked up at the sky and blinked. "What the? Is that a flying lobster? What the heck are those things?" She asked as the lobster bird thing continued to fly along with its many strange brethren. The boys looked up and saw. "Th..there sure are a lot of mystery birds up there." Komatsu said with nervousness showing in voice. "Mystery birds?" "The Baron Island is famous for its many mystery birds. With those guys holding mastery of the sky you can't even get here in helicopters." "Ah. That's why we came by boat then." Komatsu said as he continued looking up. "Speaking of boat I have to ask, how the heck are we getting off this island?" Setsuna asked, making sure to stay even closer to the boys. Not that she was gonna take off or anything but so far this place has definitely got her worried. Toriko looked up again and said, "The sun's gonna set soon. How bout we rest here for the day?" "We're not gonna enter the marsh?" Komatsu asked, slightly surprised look on his face. Toriko looked at him threw the corner of his eye. "Well the Galala Crocodile is a nocturnal. So its better to go after it during the day when it's sluggish. We'll enter the marsh tomorrow!"

**~A little later~**

She watched Komatsu cook the snake frog or whatever over the fire on a spit that Toriko had put together. "I don't know about this..." She muttered uneasily. "Never been one for eating snakes...or frogs for that matter." "Aww don't be like that Andrea! Give it a shot before you pass judgement on it!" Toriko said as he watched the chef cook it. '_Easy for you to say since your the one who's been drooling over it since he first started._' She thought with slight annoyance as she continued to watch it cook. Looking around a bit she saw that the island's animals had started to form a ring around them. She gulped a bit. Hope they weren't hungry enough to try and attack them. "Komatsu! Is it done yet?! The smell is driving me crazy!" The hunter said with a gleam in his eye as he watched the food cook. "Ah one second." Was the reply as the chef cut into the meat. "I believe it's done. I'm sorry if it doesn't taste very good at the moment. I don't have any spices with me at the moment." "Don't worry about that! Give me a piece!" Toriko said as he quickly got himself a huge chunk and started to devour it Once he took a bite, his face got soft and went, "Yummyy! This snake frog is delicious! Try some!" He said that last bit as he thrust some into the girl's hands. "W..well... I..." She started as she took a peek at Komatsu, who was watching with a nervous expression at her. She sighed deeply and took a bite. Eyes widening she exclaimed, "This...this is really good!" Before she knew it she had quickly devoured the piece before going back for more. "Eh?! R...really?!" Komatsu asked, eyes shining with pride. "Its not my best work so..." "If this isn't the best then I would LOVE to see what you can whip up!" She told him as she continued to eat. "There's wine too! Want some?" Toriko asked between mouthfuls. Setsuna shook her head. "No thanks. I don't drink that much." He shrugged and offered some to the little chef. Komatsu, who was holding his hand, went "Be that as it may Toriko. The bleeding hasn't really stopped from the spot where the leech was." "Let me see." The girl walked over, sat by him and gently took his hand. Sure enough. It was still bleeding pretty good even though the leech fell off hours ago. "I'd take care of it but most of my stuff was in my bad." She said apologetically as she did her best to clean the blood up, earning a blush from him as Toriko said, "When leeches suck blood they release a substance called "Hirudin". It's a substance that keeps the blood from clotting. It'll stop eventually." "When is eventually?" The two asked at the same time. Komatsu cleared his throat a bit, face going pale slightly as he asked, "A..also why are these bird beasts..." "Their hungry." The large man said simply. "On this island that should be lush with resources there's a food shortage." "Food shortage? From what?" The girl asked, looking around at the many different bird things that were watching them. By their nature, galala crocodiles are omnivores and big eaters. If the IGO's data is correct then I don't doubt that this is the work of a 300 year old Galala Gator." Toriko took a moment to take a drink from yet another bottle of booze. Seriously what is with this man and booze? "It's not just the baron marsh. The possibility of it devouring everything on the island isn't low." With that statement the already pale chef grew even more paler. "You could say that 200,000 species of living things are facing a crisis.. No... wait a minute please!" "Meep?!" Setsuna went in surprise as the already excited chef abruptly stood up and continued. "Even the Galala Crocodile can even adapt to the ocean! When there are no more resources it'll go into the sea and...!" "Sh!" Toriko interrupted him. "Be quiet!"

"What is it?" Komatsu asked as it suddenly got very quiet. '_This can't be good._' She thought as she looked around as a split second later the mystery birds took off in a flash of wings and feathers. The water the group sat next to suddenly started to bubble when the next instant a giant snake like creature burst out of the water. She barely jumped while Komatsu freaked out as Toriko just looked at it. "What is this thing called again?" "IT'S A SWAMP SNAKE TORIKO-SAN!" Komatso shouted in fear as he freaked out. Setsuna watched as the little guy continued. "It's capture level is 5! And that it's said that as long as it's in the swamp , not even the Galala Crocodile can carelessly attack it!" "Swamp snake? No way." Toriko said, undisturbed by the giant. '_I'd believe that too but...something's wrong. That creature...it looks weird..._' The girl thought as Toriko noticed something. "Mu?" She was right as the snake shivered and collapsed onto the shore, dead and with a huge chunk torn out of it. "What the?" Setsuna said as she slowly walked over to the boys. "Eh? It's dead?" Komatsu stated in surprise as Toriko went, "Wha.. what is with this wound?!" The girl suddenly got a chill down her spine. '_Wha..what was that?_' She wondered, looking around and behind her. "One bite and that was enough to end its life. What amazing jaw's power. And the sheer size of it!" '_The 3__00 year old Galala Crocodile?! But it still doesn't make sense!_' The hunter thought as he tried to figure out what happened when he happened to gaze down at the snake and saw leeches still on the body. The girl jumped a foot when all heard a stomp right behind her. Komatsu slowly turned around as Toriko went, "I see. The reason for this snake's capture level is of course due to it's strength but the difficulty of finding it in the swamp is a large part of it!" The chef paled considerably as he stammered out, "To..Toriko-san..." Gulping slightly she slowly turned around and came face to face with a VERY large crocodile. Unlike the ones from her world this one had six legs and tusks. "It's the smell of blood." Toriko turned around and looked directly at the crocodile. "From the moment we landed on this island we were already marked as targets weren't we?" "Eh?! How?!" Setsuna went as Komatsu quickly dragged her closer to them. Toriko calmly cracked his knuckles as he said, "Stand back Komatsu and Setsuna." '_No kidding fool! If you want to fight it then by all means! I can't out run this thing fast enough even though my life depends on it!_' She thought, trying her best not to freak out. Freaking out won't do her any good and will most likely create a burden on the boys. Bad enough she can't hunt but to cook it as well she may as well surrender now. '**_Galala Crocodile. 300 years old. Reptile Beast. Estimated Capture Level 8. _**'

'_Th-th-that's not a crocodile! That's a dinosaur!'_ Komatsu thought as he shivered in fear. Setsuna placed herself between him and the crocodile without thinking about it. This REALLY sucks. Suddenly cold shivers went down their spine as the impression of another dinosuar came up from behind. "I said stand back you two." It said. "Toriko-san?!" "Toriko?!" Both went as they turned around just in time to see said dino. Both thought at the same time, '_There are two dinosaurs here!_' The two ran like hell out of there as Toriko walked a bit closer to it. "I wonder how long it's been since I've seen a prey that dares to fight me.." He muttered as th croc suddenly charged forward and attacked. Easily dodging the first attack he managed to land a hit and that continued on for a bit: attack, dodge and punch. At leauntitled did till the croc nailed Toriko in the stomach with its tailed. "Ouch!" He went got a sharp look and grabbed its tail and threw it on the ground a little ways from him. '_That's completely amazing! I've never seen anything like it before!'_ Setsuna thought as Komatsunthought, '_I see typo dinosaurs!_' She saw the hunter look at his arm as if he noticed something. "Hey Komatsu!" "Y...yes! I see two dinosaurs!" "eh? Did your bleeding stop? Look at where the leech bit!" "What the?" She went as the chef said, "Huh.. blood? Ah no... There's still a little WHAT THE?! There's another one stuck?!" "What?!" The girl went as she watched him lift his hand up to reveal another huge leech. "Ooh crap!" Quickly checking herself and to her dismay there was one right on her arm. Mama Mia! Get it off!" "I just recalled that these are baron leeches! The parasitic leech! If you had your blood sucked by one of these the bleeding won't stop or a half day!" '**_The large komodo dragon are known for having 60 species of bacteria in its saliva in its mouth. So even if it doesn't give a fatal injury, it will wait until the prey is weakened and go and finish it_**_ off.' Toriko continued, "The galala croc is keeping a bunch in its mouth! It_ spreads those leeches and uses it sense of smell to find preys that had its blood sucked!" No way! Is that even possible?!

"Eh?! That means I'm it's target?!" Komatsu freaked out. "So that's what happened to the swamp snake. So I guess it's better not to drag this fight out too long." Toriko mused as he brushed off the leeches. "Komatsu! Is it all right that if I don't capture it alive?" "eh? What? Capture it alive?" A chill went down her spine as Toriko's face took on the demonic look again as he asked, "Is it all right if I beat the heck out of it?" The chef held up his hands as he nodded his approve-full quickly.

**Toriko's view of things**

For the first time in years he went into battle mode. As he did all the living things fled their home except the galala crocodile. Due to the ignorance of not knowing a life threatening danger it stayed to fight. '_I'll show him respect and show him the tools of humans!' The impression _he was giving off was a japanese demon holding a fork and knife with the crocodile on a gigantic plate. The sight of sight made her grow cold while it made poor Komatsu pee his pants. After rubbing his hands together he then placed his hands together as if in prayer. After bowing his head he said, "I give my thanks to all the food in the world." with that said he got his knife and fork ready just as the croc started to attack. "Fork!" He shouted as he stabbed his hand into the croc and easily lifted the heavy animal off the ground. With the other hand he used knife and cut the croc's head off easily. Grinning like a mad man he let the body fall as he repeated the rubbing of hands again and put his hands together. Bowing his head he said, "thanks for the treat." He looked over at the others and said with a smile, "Mission accomplished! Lets eat!" '_What the heck was that? He looked like a Japanese hanya._' she thought as she watched him smiling like nothing had happen. Glancing over at Komatsu she noticed that he was crying but didn't know if it relief from surrviving or what. She looked at Toriko again. What was his true form? The one with the smile of a man or the demon one? Or was it both? "What are you crying and standing around for? Let's eat!"

**~later on~**

"That smells absolutely delicious Komatsu." Setsuna told him warmly as the food was yet again cooked on a spit. This was the most interesting thing she has ever saw, a giant crocodile cooked over a biggest spit she has ever see . (Well, 2nd if one counts seeing Toriko turn into some demon) "Is it really alright?" Komatsu asked in a worried tone. "What is?" The girl asked as she watched as the hunter reach over to the meat, cutting off a slice of the meat. "I mean to eat the requested meat right here." "I don't see why not Komatsu. That's an awful lot of meat to carry back and I doubt we could." "It's alright. Either way we won't be able to carry it all back. And it's done!" Toriko immediately started to drool at the sight of the meat. Seriously. These people must REALLY love food. "Look the froslowing fat is shining. It's like a jewel." Ooook then. Just as she started to feel weirded out he ate it whole. When he finished he went, "Mmmmm! So good!" "Is it really?" Komatsu asked as he cut himself a slice. His eyes widen as he ate. "S..so good! Here Andrea! Try some!" He said the last part as he handed her a slice. She took a small bite and her eyes widen. This tasted unlike anything before! This was better then the snake frog thing she had before! As the group continued to cook the meat the chef said, " Hey Toriko-San can I ask you something?" Immediately the reply was, "No." She blinked a bit as Komatsu went, "No but I haven't even asked you yet." Toriko sighed a bit and asked, "what is it?" The chef asked him shyly, "if you do something like this again... Can I come with you?" "Decide it by yourself. You were lucky this time." "Yea but after that I'm unlucky?!" She giggled a bit they exchanged conversation. "I consider myself quite lucky. If you two hadn't shown up like you did I'd been someone's dinner right now." The boys blinked a bit at thought before nodding slowly. "Very true." "Another thing... Thank you guys for believing about what I said. I highly doubt that someone would of believed me right away." The boys looked at each for a second before laughing a bit. "We kinda had no choice since you landed right in front of us and on me." Toriko told her with a grin which got a laugh out of her. "Good point." She looked up and saw the sun rising. "Huh. We stayed up all night and didn't even realize it." "ACK!" Komatsu went as he looked behind the group. "What is it? Komatsu?" "We ate all of it! This is bad Toriko!" "Eh?! No way!" The girl as she whipped her head to look at it. True enough there was nothing left but a pile of bones and...wait...was Toriko's stomach that large before? "Idiot." the now large hunter went. "I made sure we saved some, see?!" At that remark he held up a leech. "That's a leech Toriko! How the heck is gonna be pulled off?!" She sighed deeply as she continued. "We should of put some aside for Komatsu." "Its not enough?" "Of course its not enough! Aiii what am I going to tell the bureau director?! Am I going to be fired over this?!" Burping the hunter said with a blissed out smile, "Tell the IGO this: It was freaking delicious!" "How is that going to solve things?!" Kotmatsu demanded. "But its still a step away from being put onto my full course menu, I think.." "So in the end your saying it wasn't good enough?!" As the two went back forth the girl thought to herself, '_I can already tell this is going to be quite an interesting adventure. I hope I can get home soon._' Looking up at the sky she continued. '_How in the world did I get here? If I figure out that riddle will it help me get home?_' She took a glance at the huge belly of the hunter and the chef and couldn't help but give a slight smile. '_At least I made some allies on the first day here. Hope my time here is always like this. Only minus almost getting eaten by a giant ass croc. I can do without that._'


	3. Rainbow Fruit Part 1

After the group made its way to the main land it was decided that Setsuna would go with Toriko for the time being as he tried to see if he could find any details on occults. At first she readily agreed, thinking that if someone tried to trouble her they'd have to go through him first but after seeing his house kinda made her wish she went with the chef. Not only was his house huge but it was made entirely out of candy. Literally. There was chocolate, ice cream and other bunch of goodies that made up the house. She liked sweets but this was too much. '_I feel like I could gain weight just by standing in this place._' She had thought at the time. At least she gotten her stuff back if one could believe it.

**~Flash back~**

"Toriko-san! What are you doing?! We need to go!" Komatsu called after the hunter as Toriko went back into the jungle without warning. "Wonder what he's doing?" The girl wondered as she watched him vanish into the woods. "Maybe taking a dump or something."Komatsu suggested. She sweat drop a bit. "Komatsu. I didn't need to know that." "O..oh. I'm sorry if I offended you." Smiling a bit she playfully ruffled his hair. "It's fine. Just don't wanna know when someone's gonna do stuff like that. Hm?" Toriko came walking back carrying at least 5 bags. "Are those..." She wondered aloud. Those bags looked awfully familiar. "Sorry bout that. On the way back to the raft I caught your scent coming from that direction and found these. These yours?" Toriko asked as he put the bags in front of her. "I think so but why the heck are they even here? I didn't have these when I was at work." she said as she opened one of them and discovered her cloths. "These ARE mine! What the heck man?! Are they trying to ruin perfectly good cloths?!" "These are yours?" Komatsu asked as the boys watched as she turned over most of the bags. "Yea these are mine. Hm? Ah!" She practically threw the bags over her head to reach the last bag. "My baby! Please be alright! Please be alight!" Almost chanting to herself as she carefully opened the bag, which was actually a box but she disguised as a bag for fun. "Baby?" Both of the men went, really confused on why she would even use that word but it quickly cleared up when the bag she was in produced a violin. "Yes! It's alright!" "Who the heck calls a violin their baby?" Toriko asked in confusion as Komatsu looked it over. "Looks quite old. How long have you had it?" Smiling proudly she stated, "About 3 years. It looked like this when I bought it." "Three years and it looks like that? Don't you take better care of it?" The chef asked, examining the instrument. She lightly glared at him as she cradled it. "Course I do! Jeesh! It natural looks like its been threw the ringer! You should have seen it BEFORE I cleaned it up!" He held up his hands in defense. "I'm sorry! I wasn't trying to make trouble!" Toriko chuckled. "I take it your sensitive about that?" She nodded a bit as he continued, "Something's definitely going on here. Why the heck would your cloths be out here?" "I don't know but long as their still good I'm going to use them!" The girl replied, gathering her things and putting them on the little raft. '_I want to know. There's something strange afoot. Who the heck would bring cloths and leave them let alone Andrea's? Is there more to this puzzle that I can't seen?_' The giant hunter mused as he watched the two talk as they loaded the raft.

**~End of Flashback~  
**

**~Toriko's view of things~**

The first night with her was...interesting to say the least. Normally he sleeps like the dead no matter what but the moment she walked in and settled down its like everything is acute to her. Damn if he knew. Maybe its because of how she arrived? Normally a cute girl falling on a man would make his day but to have one LITERALLY land on him after appearing out of a portal thingy? Who wouldn't been on guard for a bit? Sad part is that it wasn't the danger was coming from her but the scent that had carried over from wherever she was. Whatever it was it was dangerous but here's the question: what the heck was it and how did she escape without an injury? He sighed deeply as he got out of bed, scratching his head a bit. Man these thoughts were making his head hurt. Ah well. Why worry about something that's out of his control? Sides that if anything should happen she's with him and can protect her. Reaching over he scraped some chocolate off the wall as he reached over to grab a nearby fruit. Making his way down the hall he continued to grab bits of sweets and food off the house. On the way down he took a peek into Andrea's room... Setsuna's... he really must remember that that's her name she's using at the moment. Not that anyone's gonna recognize her but just to be on the safe side. Last thing he needs is to chase some fools down. Quietly peeking in he looked over the room before his eyes landed on the bed. The girl was dressed in what appeared to be a lingere top (didn't know what the bottom looked like since the blanket she was using was covering her lower half up in a way that suggested that she was wearing nothing) stretched out on the bed in a way that made him almost have a nose bled. Quickly leaving he continued to grab food and eat it on the way down. He must really learn to knock otherwise stuff will be thrown at him. As the giant hunter was walking out the door he heard a soft sleepy voice ask, "Where you going so early?" Turning around he saw Setsuna standing in the doorway with a cute sleepy expression on her face, yawning a bit as she waited for a reply. Chuckling a bit he said, "Wanna come along and see?" She must still be half asleep cause she merely nodded. Chuckling again he added, "Grab a bite and we'll be off." '_A bite? Of what?_' The girl wondered.

**~At the Gourmet Central Whole Sale Market~~Andrea's View~**

_**'From all over the world, every single kind of ingredient gets gathered here. Its nicknamed "World's Kitchen"! Total 3000 hectares, the amount of food brought in on any single day is actually 900,000 tons. Every day trillion yen changes hands in this monstrous market!'** 'I must be getting used to that damn voice._' The girl thought wearily to herself. She wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing. Last time she checked when one heard voices in their heads it usually wasn't a good sign. Sighing silently she continued to watch Toriko continue to carry that huge dragon thing. '_What's even more amazing is that he not only JUMPED off a cliff, he landed on a branch and went into a cave, FOUGHT that thing and won, AND carried it back up said cliff. Seriously. What is that man made of?_' Setsuna thought wearily as she looked around the market with all the different animals with all different shapes, colors and sizes. Animals. Hard to believe that animals can look like that. Back in her world none of the ones there looked like they would carry a person off. Her world. An even more strange thing to say since she was not only there yesterday but was just going to work like normal. Would anything be normal again? As she continued to get lost in her thoughts she heard a familiar voice shout out, "EH?! Toriko-san's coming?!" She giggled a bit. That man is just too funny. Toriko went "You called?" as he walked up to the chef and the nice captain from the other day. Komatsu's eyes bugged out of his head when he saw that dragon. "WHA?! A MONSTER?!" He shouted. She giggled again. He really is just too funny. She heard the crowed start saying, "Look! Toriko's here!" "Toriko!" '_He must be pretty popular for so many people to know him on sight._' The girl thought as she walked up to join them. "Nice to see you again Setsuna-san. Any luck with your memory?" The captain asked as he bowed to her a bit. The ploy they used was that she was somehow lost in the marsh and lost her memory due to the shock of watching the party she was with get eaten. "No such luck yet Tomu-san." She answered, feeling kinda bad that she's lying. Unknown to her there was a person far back in the throng of people watching her. '_There she is! Damn! She with that blue haired bastard?! I better inform the boss!_' The unknown figure thought to themselves as they slipped quietly away. "Oooh a shakure-nodon?! Looks like it weighs over a ton!" Tomu-san said excitedly as he watched the hunter put the animal down. "How's 40,000 kilos Tomu? I already used knocking on it." '_Ooh boy. Hear comes the explanation again._'Setsuna thought as it began yet again without her control. **_'Knocking. Using a thin pointed rod or various other such tools, stimulates the cerebellum that governs movement, putting the entire bodies into a state of temporary paralysis. Using this method it is possible to ship game while alive. However, an abundance of knowledge and experience is necessary to master this technique and it is also possible to acquire a specific patent for specific game. There are said to be many bishokuya who make a living off of these patent rights after__ retirement.'__  
_** She really is getting used to those explanations. At least she's not constantly bothering Toriko with questions but still. Its unnerving to hear another voice inside one's head. "Make it 30,000 per kilo! I've got a lot of small poor small buyers you know!" A man wearing a suit and sun glasses came walking up to the captain as Komatsu asked excitedly, "Amazing! Could you sell some to my hotel too please Tomu-san?!" '_He works at a hotel? I can see that happening._' The girl thought as she watched. "I'm worried, " The suit man said to Tomu. "If you don't strictly follow the market prices set by IGO the value of foodstuffs will change." Tomu chuckled a bit, put his hand on his hip and replied back, "Talk to the producer Toriko. If you dare to that is." The man backed down a bit. Toriko isn't that scary. How rude to treat someone like that! Oh wait. He DID appear to have turned into some kind of demon but it wasn't like it was directed at someone. The man approached Toriko. "Toriko-san. I've heard the rumors." Toriko went "Hm?" as the man continued. "So you've taken down a Galala Crocodile. Just what I expect from one of the four heavenly kings. I wish the other three would follow your example and contribute to the growth of the Gourmet age." What is with these people and food? The blue haired man merely went, "Hm. I think its pointless to expect anything from them." "That being said we have a job request for you." The man started as Toriko began to walk away while waving his hand at him. "Yeah yeah. You IGO guys have plenty of your own privately employed bishokuya right? You don't need me. Let's get going Setsuna." "Setsuna?" The guy went as he turned to look at her. She smiled as she walked over. "Ah! I'm so sorry for not saying hi to you Setsuna-san! I..I mean Setsuna!" Komatsu said quickly, appearing to be quite embarrassed. This time she didn't bother concealing her laughter, causing confusion to pass among the men folk. "Its no big deal Komatsu. I wasn't exactly making my presence known. Sides, I got to watch a good show!" She told him with a laugh. '_Is she that easily amused?_' passed through the men. The man in the sun glasses coughed a bit and said to Toriko, "The rainbow fruit has reached ripeness." "What?" Toriko said, shocked surprise all over his face.

She jumped a bit as Komatsu said loudly, appearing to be in shock as well, "Did you say rainbow fruit?! The phantasmal tree fruit that has a rainbow of different tastes that changes according to the atmospheric temperature and level of humidity?!" "There's actually a fruit that exists like that?" Setsuna asked innocently, looking between the men in confusion. Why on earth are they acting like this for fruit? "Hey..! Your voice is too loud Komatsu-kun!" The man in the suit said as he tried to hurriedly keep things down. "I've heard about that.." Tomu said calmly. "Eh?! You've never heard of the rainbow fruit Setsuna?!" Toriko asked as he looked at her with astonishment. As she shook her head someone said, "The rainbow fruit is a fruit said to have such a high concentration of juice that dripping just ONE DROP of it into a 25 meter pool of water will make all of the water in the pool to turn into a thick and mellow juice." "EH?! A FRUIT CAN DO THAT?! THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE! HOW CAN THAT EVEN BE?! CAN A FRUIT LIKE THAT EXIST?!" Setsuna said in shock, not even believing what she was hearing. How is that even remotely possible?! The men looked at her like they couldn't believe she said that. Flushing a bit in embarrassment she looked away. "S..sorry.." "Aw don't worry about it! No big deal!" Toriko said as he ruffled her hair playfully, causing her to blush brightly. "H..hey now! Messing with a girl's hair will ya?!" She playfully growled at him. Not that she was complaining; she just stuck it in a ponytail again. "I've also heard that the for the rainbow fruit is so high that if you sold it, you'd be able to live a life of luxury your whole life." Komatsu said, face slightly nervous. She blinked at that. Yea there are things like that back at home but they weren't no fruit. "There's also a rumor that its completely wiped out in the natural world." Tomu added, adjusting his hat. "That's a false rumor spread by some gourmet investors to raise the value of the "Rainbow Fruit"." the man in the suit said before continuing, "A few days ago fruits have been successfully grown in our "garden". Although we cannot say that those are natural." "Its one of those selectively bred trees you guys are so good at growing isn't it?" Toriko asked. "The problem is the rainbow fruit tree has been made into a Troll Kong's nest! No one can get close to it..!" The suit said in distress. '_Troll Kong? What the heck is that?_' She wondered as the man continued. "The strongest of all gorillas the Troll Kong! A few days ago we mobilized a 2 billion yen gourmet tank but it was astoundingly flipped upside down and its a 40 ton military tank." Setsuna gulped a bit. What kind of creature can flip a tank of that size? Her eyes widen a bit. He's not seriously going to go get this fruit AND fight those.. whatever their called is he?! "The administration bureau has announced it to be a capture level 9! It likely surpasses the Galala Crocodile!" "Is is that much stronger then the croco?" The girl asked, looking between the men feeling quite lost. Jeesh. Even at home she could keep up with people but here? They may as well be speaking in tongues.

"C...capture level 9?" Tomu asked in slight shock as Toriko scratched his cheek a bit. "The Troll Kong.. that's selectively bred too isn't it? Geez you guys do nothing but weird experiments don't you?" Toriko said, putting a hand on his hip as he continued. "But anyway, is there really only one troll kong? They usually travel in packs." Say wha? Well...now that she thinks about it the ones, NORMAL ones, at home usually form social groups and such so why be surprised this... Troll Kong does it as well. "Let's take this request, Toriko-san and Setsuna! Its the rainbow fruit!" The little chef said with excitement. She had to blink at that. Why was he including her as well? She has nothing to add to the team. Maybe just to be nice? "I want to see it too! Let's go see it together!" He continued as the large hunter put both hands on his hips and gave him a look that practically dripped "Oh really?" as he replied back, "You're really going to die this time." Looking over at the girl he asked, "How about you? Feel like dying going to get a fruit?" Setsuna blinked a bit. Much as she hated to admit but now she's curious as to what this fruit is like that it has everyone going into a tizzy. She nodded and replied back, "Yes. I wouldn't mind going. If that's alright." Toriko gave a sigh of defeat. "Geez I guess I've got no choice. Well, I'd like to try it too so..I think I'll show my face there for the first time in a while, at that nostalgic garden!" '_Eh? He's been there before? But why?_' The girl wondered as she watched the men make preparations to go. For some reason she couldn't shake a bad feeling that something is gonna happen.

**`A few days later~**

'_Doesn't this man EVER stop eating?! Ever since we met he's got something to eat or is eating something he's found!_' Setsuna thought with disbelief as she watched Toriko eat some fish egg thing. "It sure was nice of Tomu to give us 100 kilos of golden salmon roe in hopes of us getting the fruit!" Most of which the large man had inhaled himself. She kept that part to herself. Not that she wanted any since fish isn't her favorite thing. A few days before they: Komatsu, Toriko and herself found themselves riding in a car that will take them close to this garden place and ever since they went on board Toriko hadn't stopped eating. She was beginning to wonder if the man was a bottomless pit and if so no wonder he began a hunter! Speaking of the hunter.. he took another bite from the large pot. "Yummy! The popping two stage attack of flavor is out of this world!" He said excitedly while slapping his leg. The girl bit back a laugh. Komtasu wasn't the only one who was amusing. Or that cute. She blinked a bit. Really now? Again? Now was not the time to look at other people in that fashion. Her priority is to get home and get home soon! "Hey Toriko-san" Komatsu began, watching as the big man continued to eat. "There's something on my mind. Wouldn't the Troll Kong just eat the rainbow fruit right away?" "Ah! I didn't think of that! Nice one Komatsu!" She exclaimed, flashing him a brilliant smile which earned her a cute blush from him. Unknown to her she didn't realize that simple act sent a wave of jealousy over the large man. Why didn't she think of that?! Gorillas normally eat plants and such. "Why even go if the fruit is long gone Toriko?" She asked him, making him snap of it. "Well.." He started as he took a bite of more salmon roe. "Troll Kongs only eat animal meat. Its goal is probably to prey on animals that are attracted by the smell of the fruit." "So in other words its just living in the tree then." Setsuna thought aloud as Komatsu added, "But even with such a vicious gorilla having made a nest there, animals are still trying to get close to it? No matter how many rainbow fruits growing there..." "You've got a good point Komatsu. Even if its fruit there's no way that animals will continue to come for it." The girl said as she looked out the window the man in the suit, who was driving them, said nervously, "There's no end to the animals that come close to it." "!? Say wha?!" She started as he continued, "It's nearly a relax condition. It's like in baseball when a foul ball hits the backstop net, spectators always move like they'er trying to avoid it. Even though there is a net they still move by reflex. Animals that smell the rainbow fruit have the reflex "I want to eat that" and are completely controlled by their appetite." '_Sounds like Toriko. Wonder if there's any relation to that?_' She mused to herself, trying to keep a smile from appearing. The man continued on. "That's why there are many animals that would not stop eating the rainbow fruit even if their getting attacked." Definitely sounds like Toriko. He gives off that kind of impression except that she would love to meet anything that would dare try to bug him while eating. "By the way Section Chief," Komatsu started. Section Chief? Is that the suit man? Apparently it was so as Komatsu finished talking. "That's quite an amazing posture your driving in.." Eh? Sitting up better she saw that the section chief was hunched over as he continued to drive. Guess that means he's bothered by what's going on.

"It's attraction is so strong that you forget all reason? Sounds a lot like love eh Komatsu and Setsuna?" Toriko commented with a grin. "Maybe along with your will you should write a love letter." "Hey please stop that Toriko-san! What's with that gross idea!?" Komatsu shouted, waving his arms a bit. She giggled at that. "Don't have anyone special in your life Komatsu?" At that the chef blushed deeply and shook his head. "N..no. Not yet." For some reason her heart tighten a bit at the word love. Did Toriko have someone he loved? That why he said all that? Before she could ask the section chief announced, "It's in sight. The garden." Bout damn time. Taking a look she blinked a bit. In front of them was the biggest and longest wall she had ever seen. '_What in the world?_' She thought as the car slowly pulled up to the wall. Not only that it was fricken tall and from the looks of it very thick. She continued to marvel the wall as they got out and saw two guards standing in front of the gate. Taking out what appeared to be bark Toriko stuck it in his mouth and snapped his fingers, producing fire for a moment. "EH?! How'd you do that?! That was amazing!" She said without thinking then suddenly blushed in embarrassment. Argh. Now's not the time to be going gaga over every little thing. Toriko chuckled a bit. "Easy. Friction." He told her as they approached the guards who gave him salute and said, "Gochisousama desu. Toriko-sama." "Quit it with that greeting you guys. I haven't treated to anything." '_And here we go again with the explanations._' Was all she had time to think when the voice said, **_'Gochisousama: this is a polite p_****_hrase_**_**meaning it was a feast usually said after eating. Here it seems to be used as a greeting f**_**_om the IGO guards.'_**_ 'I swear by everything I know when I find that voice's owner I'm gonna sock them one!_' She vowed silently, observing Komatsu going nuts over on how big the wall was. Looking up at the wall she noticed that it said BioTobe Garden. BioTope? So this is like a bio dome then? Only a huge garden instead? "Bio..Biotope Garden? Biotope?" Komatsu mused a bit out loud as the section chief said, "Its a man-made flora and fauna living space. We let animals live free range in an environment close to that of nature." "The IGO researches gourmet animals ecology and such in these biotopes." Toirko finished explaining. "Ah. I kinda understand what's going on then. I've heard of something similar back home." She added as she watched the men. Setsuna really felt like an outsider at times like this. As Toriko was finishing explaining to the chef the section chief was having the guards open the doors when suddenly the ground started to shake and the sound of thunder filled the air. "Thunder?!" She exclaimed aloud, looking around in confusion. This wasn't like the average thunder this felt like it was seeping into her body.

As the others were panicking she noticed Toriko standing calmly as he smoked the cigar bark whatever. "We have received contact from the lab research watchtower a few minutes ago. That there is already one troll kong on the other side of the gate!" Said one of the guards. Wait a sec! Is he saying that sound came from an animal?! No animal is that loud! "Its waiting to ambush us?!" The section chief said in a panic as Komatsu went, "Seriously?!" He looked at the chief. "Could it be that sound just now... was on the gate from the inside?" "N..now now Komatsu. I'm sure it wasn't that." She began as the chief said, "That's highly unlikely. There's a deep trench on the inside of the gate. It should not be able to cross that and knock on the gate." Suddenly a loud thud was heard behind them, causing all to jump and look back to see the giant hunter's hand on his chest. Can someone really hit their chest that loud? On second thought the man was built like a brick wall and just as big so it shouldn't be a big surprise if he could. "What was that for Toriko?" She asked as Komatsu said, "P..please don't surprise us like that Toriko-san! What was that sound just now?" "It's drumming. Its a form of intimidation characteristic for gorillas. That sound before was the troll kong pounding on its chest." The large man said simply. Is he saying that the thundering sound was coming from an animal?! What animal can that... scratch that. '_If there are creatures huge at the market then how big can this thing be? Do I even want an answer to that?_' Setsuna thought to herself. Nah...she didn't want to know cause she may chicken out. Not that anyone in her situation would blame her but c'mon! Last time she checked there weren't any animals the size of buildings back home and whales DIDN'T coat! Toriko got a sharp look in his eyes as he continued. "The king of the garden is warning me not to enter!" "Eh? Why not?" She thought aloud. "D...drumming sounds reached all the way here across the concrete." The little chef said timidly as the section chief went, "I..I do believe that. The troll kong's drumming is an explosive sound that could be heard for tens of kilometers away. Generally speaking animals that hear this sounds typically run away." "This is really weird! What kind of animal can do that kind of noise?! That's solid concrete! It's impossible!" The girl started as Toriko walked over to her and ruffled her hair again which earned him an indignant squeak. "Long as your in this world you will see, hear, touch, feel and taste different things you've never heard before Setsuna. It's not so bad once you get the hang of things. Sides, I'll be here to help you." Toriko said with a chuckle as he watched her give him the evil eye and growled at him. She really is fun to be around but back to business. He walked over to one of the gate's guard and said, "I don't care. Open the gate." "I.. I can't Toriko-sama. There are regulations." "Ah?" The hunter went, taking out the cigar-like bark. She really must know where he got that cause its probably one of the most fascinating things she's seen. Doesn't help that she likes the smell of cigars.. she shook her head and continued to listen to what the guard said. ""At this 8th biotope, if there is a beast level 5 or higher within a 5 kilometer radius of the gate we cannot open the is presumed that no animals that crossed the trench but still"

The large man got a smug look on his face as he asked, "So it's okay if they're outside of a 5 kilometer radius then? In other words, if their out of it its okay to open the gate?" Stifling a laugh as the entire group got the goofiest looking dumb founded expressions on their faces she's ever seen. Maybe agreeing to come see this fruit thing was worth it. "Hm?" She went as she noticed the giant was cracking his fists. '_What is that man doing now? Probably something like before. What did he call those? Fork and knife?_' She mused as she watched him walk right up to the wall. "Besides drumming, throwing or breaking something nearby is a form of intimidation but..." He stopped as he got that demonic look from before on his face. _'Oh dear here we go again._' She thought with a sigh as she continued to watch. He seemed to be charging up for something but what? "To..Toriko-san?" The men started to say when the large man gruffly said, "Get back." Oook now what is he up to? Suddenly he went into a stance and if she didn't know better she'd say it would appear that he was powering up cause he looked even more like a demon while doing that. She had to blink a few times when she noticed his arm. What the hell? Is his arm DOUBLING in size?! What the hell?! Arms don't do that and if they did it ain't good! "3 ren kugi punch!" Toriko shouted as he punched the wall. "Ohmigod! Toriko! Are you alright?!" was all she had time to say when a split second later a huge dent appeared in the wall. The hell?! That hole had to be at least 50 if not more feet! How did he do that?! She looked at his arm quickly. Just from ONE punch alone?! What is this man?! Seriously?! She mused as the section chief and Komatsu said at the same time, "WHAT?!" Again she tried not to laugh although she had the exact same thing going threw her head as well. "The kugi punch! A punch of many punches striking at once. The more punches that are done, like hitting a nail, the more the destruction pierces inwards! 2" He explained as he watched his handiwork continue on. '_THAT was 3 hits in one!? Is that even possible?!_' She thought as she quickly covered herself from getting hit by the debris but her mouth gaped when he said "3" and the hole now reached the other side. "Whoa... that's... kinda cool.." She said as chucks of the gate landed nearby as the others stood in shock as well. Toriko meanwhile walked calmly through the destruction, continuing to smoke that damn cigar wood, saying as he crossed through. "Sorry for the intrusion."

**Toriko's view of things**

As he walked through the rumble he came out to a clearing. In front of him was a deep trench and quite a big one at that. Might have some trouble for the others. On the other side of the trench mountains and trees. Getting an ominous feeling he scanned the other side. '_It's gone but that definitely doesn't mean it ran away. Beast odor. In the slight remaining scent there are none of the unique smells of the sweat caused by nervousness. That means it wasn't scared by my intimidation. The drumming at the beginning was to see how I would react. It's probably just an underling from the pack sent out as a scout though.. and what is it... this scent?_' Taking a deep breathe threw his nose he detected that it was it was a raw fishy smell. It's a reptilian scent. Bastard, could he already be...? "Wha.. what are you doing Toriko-san? We could of just entered without going over board?" Komatsu asked timidly as he delicately walked through the debris of the wall. "I gotta agree on that one. Was it really necessary to make a HOLE in a wall? Jeesh! Talk about overboard Toriko!" Shit! Of all times for those two to be coming! Whipping his head towards the duo he shouted, "Stay away Komatsu! Setsuna! We're being attacked!" "Eh? Where?" The girl asked, quickly looking around when at that moment these weird snake like things appeared and latched onto him. The animal looked like a snake but had stripes going across the back and the jaw was split in two to where it looked like fingers with black nails. Only the fangs were inside each side and poisonous to boot. "Toriko?!" Setsuna shouted in shock as Komatsu gave out a terrified cry. The instant he broke through the gate the animal threw poisonous snakes from the other side of the cliff. Taking a puff from the cigar bark he thought, '_What a feeble tactic._' "Toriko! Are you alright?! What are those things?!" He could hear the worry and concern in the girl's voice and for some reason it made him have a very warm and satisfied feeling. What is going on with him?

**Setsuna's View of Things**

What the hell?! Those are snakes?! She's heard of strange shapes on animals before but those things remind her of zombie fingers! And this man just got bit by at least 7! She glanced over at Komatsu and bit back a laugh. The little chef had the strangest look of panic, shock and surprise on his face as he said in a panicked voice, "Th..These are zombie taipans!" _'Zombie? Must be cause the heads look like zombie fingers._' She mused to herself as he continued, "They're deadly venomous snakes, Toriko-san!" "What?!" She almost shouted as she whipped her head back at the large man. "Venomous?! Toriko has like 10 on him! Are you alright?!" Just as Setsuna was about to rush over to...beats her but if their venom is as bad as Komatsu says she can at LEAST try to help stop the poison... which makes her wonder how cause he has them on different parts of his body. "I know. Be quiet. I told you two to stay away." Blinking a bit she couldn't help but again wonder WHY he's turning down help. Toriko took one more puff of his cigar and ate it. _'Why the hell is he eating that thing?'_ She thought as she continued to watch him. He now appeared to be concentrating on something. Smoke slowly seemed to seep out of his body a split second after eating the cigar and suddenly the snakes just fell right off him. He just gave a whole new meaning to the word smoking. "Wah?!" Komatsu said in surprise as the two watched the hunter shoo the snakes while saying, "Oook. You're good little kids... you were just surprised, being thrown all of a sudden. Now go back to your nest." For some reason she couldn't help but smile at that. He must really have a big heart not to be mad at being bitten and even shooing them afterwards. She's gotta say she's quite impressed. Most people would of attacked or even killed them without even attempting anything. But again, who would of survived the poison? "He's really a nice a person eh Komatsu?" The girl commented as she looked again at the chef, who yet again had a surprise look on his face. "Eh...They're said not to release their fangs until their prey is dead. With barely any effort, he got the bad tempered zombie taipans.." "They really hate the the cigar tree's smoke (the acetic acid smell). It's an irritating, so you can use it at camps and stuff." Toriko said simply, looking over his shoulder at the others. She shook her head and quickly rushed over to him, climbing over the debris and stuff. That man! How can he stand there so calmly as if nothing has happened?! He's bleeding all over. "You idiot!" She growled at him as she rushed over to him. He blinked at that. "Idiot? For what?" "Don't move around too much! You'll make the venom spread faster! Argh! One second I can at LEAST try to stop it from spreading!" Taking an arm she quickly looked it over and blinked a bit. It's... already healing up? But those fangs had gone in quite deep. "How is that possible?" She murmured as she checked him out. Unknown to her Toriko was blushing slightly and was bout to say something when a "Toriko-san!" The section chief interrupted. "Did something happen?! Are you alright?!"

"I'm fine! It was nothing! Go wait at the research laboratory and drink tea or something. I'll be getting the rainbow fruit real soon." Toriko called back to him. The girl bit her tongue to stop from chewing him out. Nothing her Aunt Fanny! He JUST got bit by poisonous snakes, bleeding and acting like nothing has happened! What gives?! "Nothing my butt you fool! Look at you! Your bleeding all over!" She growled at him as she continued her check out. He stopped her and said laughingly, "It's alright. I'm alright. It's nothing that can't heal as you can tell." The blue haired man laughed even more as she growled more at him. "Alright?! You've got venom and you need the anti venom before you kneel over! And if you die I'll never forgive you!" Toriko blinked and coughed a bit, as if embarrassed and said calmly, "It's alright. I don't need it. Just calm down ok?" Flashing her a smile that he hoped would calm her down but again had to hold back a laugh. She was giving him the evil eye and death glare rolled into one as she tried to look intimidating. To tell the truth all that did was make her look cute and sides that, she couldn't pull that off even if she spent her life trying to. That and, though he'll never admit it out loud, he liked how her eyes flashed at him in anger. At least she has a fighting spirit. "Toriko your unbelievable!" She growled at him. He chuckled silently as he made his way to the wall. On the wall there was a leveler that will make a bridge to cross the trench. The smile he had on never left his face as he felt the heat of her eyes on his back. Really too cute but if he continued to laugh at her he was afraid she was gonna do something that might hurt herself. As he reached the wall he heard Komatsu ask, "Toriko-san but the venom! You need to hurry and take the serum!" The hunter had to smile again. These two honestly. "I said I'm alright. I already have some." The girl blinked at that. He's got the anti-bodies for them already? Why didn't he say so before she got up close and personal? "Honestly! That man!" She growled to herself as she watched the bridge come from out of the wall and neatly come down. Explains why the wall was so huge. It was to accommodate the bridge and the trench. "Now then, I'm heading in." The hunter said while whistling. "H..hey! Wait for me you brat!" She growled as she hurried to catch up with him. How the hell can he leave her here when they've come so far? The man smiled to himself. Now he's a brat hm? When was the last time someone acted the way she did towards? Now that he thinks about it... it was only the other four who've acted like that. Man, she's really got his interest now.

"I...is it really ok?!" Komatsu called out from the wall. Eh? She thought for sure he was right behind them. _'He's that timid to where he has to ask?_ Setsuna mused as she followed the giant man. Wonder when she'll get used to that, following someone wasn't exactly her cup of tea. She's so used to doing things on her own that she rarely needed help but ever since coming here there's not a snowball's chance in heck that she's gonna turn down help. "Hey if you're coming, hurry up, Komatsu. Your gonna get left behind." Toriko replied as he continued to walk down the bridge. She nervously glanced to the side. Her and heights don't exactly mix well but she should be fine as long as she's NOT near the edge but still... its gonna be a long walk. "O..okay." Komatsu called after them and proceeded to hurry up. When the group reached the other side she let out a tiny breath she didn't know she was holding. Jeez. When will her fear of heights get cured? Looking around as they walked she noticed quite the difference between the plants here and the ones back home. _'Is that leaf a bacon? Or is it a bacon that's leaf?_' She wondered as the group continued to walk, a storm brewing above in the sky. '_Really WISH I brought an_ _umbrella._' The girl groused. Ai, ai, ai. She should of been more prepared mentally. Camping may not be her thing but it certainly was Toriko's and if she was going to travel with him she better get use to camping out. Suddenly she heard Komatsu call out from somewhere behind them. "Eh? Falling behind are we Komatsu?" She said with a smile. Timid he may be at times but his love for cooking shows quite well. "Yeah! Toriko's walking too fast! I can barely keep up!" He replied as he rushed up with an armful of those bacon leafs they passed a while back. Panting a bit he asked her, "How are you keeping up so well with him?" Setsuna giggled a bit and said, "I walk a lot back home. Since I don't have or need a car its just easier that way." "Oh? Where do you walk to? How far away is it?" Toriko asked as they stopped for a second. She thought for a moment before saying, "I walk to and from work, school, home, etc. Depending on how weighed down I am sometimes its 3 hours." "3 hours? For wha?" "Getting home from school. I take the bus as needed like going to work. I walk 3 hours from school to home. On a good day its an hour and a half." The boys gaped at that. "Jeez girl! That's a lot of walking." Toriko commented, looking up at the school. "By the way Komatsu what are those things your carrying?" The chef beamed happily as he answered, "I found bacon leafs! Its the first time I've seen them growing in nature!" "Eh? They grow naturally?" She asked, curious. Bacon leafs... wow. The little man nodded happily and was about to say something when Toriko interrupted, "It looks like its going to rain. The rainbow tree is tall so it'd bad if there's lighting. C'mon you two. Let's hurry." "Right." The two said as they continued to move forward. "By the way, on the way I found some banana cucumbers too. And its great with bacon leaf wrapped around it. Wanna bite Setsuna?" "Eh...sure...?" She looked at it unsure. It was indeed a cucumber but it looked like a banana. Ah well. She's seen the boddah's hands so how's this thing any different?

He handed her the food and she took a small bite, blinking at the taste. "Th..this is good! Really good! Oh man! If you guys continue to show me stuff like this I don't know if I'm gonna want to go home!" The taste was unlike anything she had before. Well, the stuff she tried here doesn't really count but still. It tasted exactly like a cucumber and the bacon really seemed to bring out the flavor more. Or was it the other way around? No matter. Neither of the men commented on what she said, both wondering what the foods were... are like back in her world. No way are they gonna down play on her never getting home. She needs to keep that hope alive so instead Komatsu said, "Ah, that's right! The bacon leaf and rainbow fruit would go well together, wouldn't they?" Eh? Fruit and bacon? Together? Not separate but together? This should be interesting. "Oh!3" Toriko went as he slid down a small slope. Thank goodness she wore pants otherwise she'd be in trouble. She had to do a double head turn when she saw where Toriko landed. _'Is that a footprint?_' The girl thought as she looked at it. No way could that be a foot print its too big and too wide but then again... the animals here aren't normal size. She sighed to herself. _'Why do I keep forgetting that little detail I'll never know. Probably cause I'm not used to the size differences here. I mean, look at Toriko. He's huge!_' "To..Toriko-san!" The little chef next to her shouted. Poor man. He's gonna have a heart attack one of these days. Suddenly a shiver went threw her and it gave her a chill. What is that...? A roar was heard above her and Komatsu. It was indeed a gorilla but damn! It made the ones at home seem like babies! This had to be at least 15 feet tall! What the heck is with all that teeth?! And why was it in there air?! And... oh god are those ROCKS in its hands?! As it was about to land it threw one of the rocks at Toriko, crushing him. "TORIKO!" She screamed in shock before suddenly noticing it landed in front of her and the chef. Oh shit...


	4. Rainbow Fruit Part 2

She felt her body freeze as she saw it. It was bigger then anything she's ever seen. Glancing over at Komatsu she saw that he was frozen stiff, like a frog being glared at by snake. Komatsu! She had to get to him! Scared as she was there was no way in hell she was gonna stand by and do nothing! Toriko! Damn him to hell and back! Her heart felt like a vice grip was around it at the thought of him. He was suppose to be...been... the great hunter! That fool! That... that... just as she was about to reach the chef the jaws were to reach Komatsu when suddenly the hanyuu appeared again. "T..Toriko?!" Setsuna said in shock as she watched the assumed dead hunter jump up into the air from where he was nailed by the rock, carrying what appeared to be something similar to a taser. At least that's what she thought. Could be something else too but if it is the voice will come back and explain. Ai, ai, ai. Back home she didn't have to worry bout strange voices in her head and make her question her sanity. "Knocking!" Toriko shouted as he jabbed the device into the beast's fur. Suddenly the troll kong threw up all over Toriko. She tried not to twitch at that. Poor guy. "That's knocking?!" She mused aloud before remembering Komatsu. "Komatsu! Are you alright?!" Without warning the beast took one swing at the hunter, swatting him away. "Hah! To..Toriko-san!" The chef said. That action towards Toriko must of snapped him out of his trance. Thank goodness. She'd hate to have slapped him silly to try and awake him. Suddenly the beast made these weird sounds, shook and fell over right in front of Komatsu. "Wha?!" Komatsu went, watching the large beast twitch and shake. "Are you alright Komatsu?! You looked like you saw your life flash before your eyes!" The girl asked as she quickly checked him, earning a blush from him as he answered, "Y..yeah I'm ok but what happened to the troll kong?" Toriko felt a flash of jealousy as he watched as the girl made sure the chef was alright. What was that for? He was alright! Why should she be touching him like that?! He quickly shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. What is wrong with him? Why would he be jealous over a little thing like that? She's just concerned about him. After all, he DID almost get eaten so he's probably freaking out. "Don't worry, I used knocking on him. He won't be able to move for a while." He answered the chef, making the two turn in his direction.

"YOU! WHAT THE HELL?! I THOUGHT THAT DAMN ROCK TOOK YOU OUT! WHAT WERE YOU DOING?! PLAYING AROUND?!" She all but howled at him, making them both jump. It was the first time for the both of them to see her angry. "Sorry sorry! Took me by surprise." Toriko said apologetically as the girl continued. "Surprise my ass! Pay attention fool! Unlike you if something happens to either myself or Komatsu we WON'T be bouncing back like you!" Just as she neared him she quickly back pedaled. "Oh that stinks!" She quickly covered her nose as Toriko said, "Eh?" He sniffed himself a bit and said, "It does stink! Bastard... he vomited all over me. Ugh. Stinks so bad! Hm?" He glanced up and saw a slim hand sticking out. Looking up he saw the girl had her nose covered, scrunching her nose up as she offered her help. "Thanks." He said as he took the hand and almost yanked back his hand. What the heck was that shock? "Are you getting up or not?" Her voice muffled by her other hand. Chuckling a bit he stood up." Yea. So I'm no longer a fool?" He asked cheekily which earned him another glare. "At the moment I decided to save it for AFTER we get that fruit. Kicking your ass won't do any good at the moment other then most likely hurt my foot." At that he laughed, he couldn't help it! "W...why... you..!" She growled indignantly as Komatsu said, "Kn..knocking Toriko-san? You just paralyzed it?" Eventually it'll start moving again?!" Toriko looked over and replied, "Yeah. I used a type that dissolves in half a day." '_And here it comes._' She thought warily. Right on cue the voice went, **_'Knocking gun. A gun which fires a special kind of needle made from a bio-gradable polymer. According to the spot it passes into, it can have effects like paralyzing the whole body. There are various types and_ sizes.' **Why would she even care about that? Its not like she's gonna be able to use ANY. Komatsu had a worry look on his face as he asked, "I..in half a day, it'll start moving again. Is it really alright...? Not to finish it off?" "Why should he finish it off? It's not like he's gonna do any more to us then it had already. Sides that, just to kill it just cause it attacked and almost ate us doesn't mean we should kill it. I prefer letting things go rather then kill them." Setsuna said sternly to the chef, who then got a chastise look on his face. "S..sorry.."

**Komatsu's view of things**

Ruffling his hair she told him with a smile, "Its no big deal." "Like she said. There's really no point in killing it. After all, our goal is the rainbow fruit! Let's go you two." Toriko said as he started to walk away. Komatsu looked at him in amazement as the girl followed him. Why wasn't she more scared? He was the one who knew most of these things here yet she walks on unafraid. How can she do that? Doesn't she know the meaning of the word? No... she does cause when they first met she was scared. Who could blame her? And Toriko-san, why is it that Toriko-san.. even though it threw poisonous snakes on him, made him fall down a pitfall and even vomited on him, just used knocking on that troll kong and didn't kill it? Can he continue on like this? Even though it was his idea to come he was beginning to have second thoughts. "Hey Komatsu! What are you standing around for? Hurry up or you'll get left behind!" The girl called to him. He saw her trying not to smile at him. He must admit, she's something else to keep going on so calmly. "Stinky! Ora... let's go Komatsu!" Taking a quick glance at the fallen troll kong made him hurry to catch up with the others. Hopefully he won't regret this later...

**Setsuna's view of things**

As the group walked through a cave she caught the whiff of something sweet. She couldn't put her finger on it but the smell remembered her of one of the scents she liked back home. The soft, relaxing scent mixed in with the sweet scent of fruit. "The rainbow fruit is close guys. " "R..right! Even I can smell its sweet fragrance! We even took care of the troll kong (even though you used knocking on it) now we can relax and just go take care of the fruit right?" Komatsu said in a happy tone. She didn't know if it was gonna be that easy the way it sounded. If she recalled correctly the gorillas back home have herds of some sorts and if these guys are similar to the ones at home then... "That guy was the lowest rank in his pack. That's why he vomited on me." She knew it. If that was the lowest she REALLY didn't want to see the highest ranks. "Eh?" Komatsu went as they continued to walk. As they continued she couldn't help but noticed the pile of bones laying here and there. This wasn't encouraging. "The troll kong's about as smart as the average chimpanzee. So it's normal for them to throw things like venomous snakes and dig pitfalls." THAT back there was a pitfall?! But it didn't look like one! At least not to her! "But ! The ones that don't resort to petty tricks are the most terrifying!" He finished as they exited the cave only to come face to face with heaven only knew how many troll kongs. This REALLY isn't encouraging! The fact that these creatures have four arms isn't exactly a comfort. Looking past them a tree looking plant was in the distance. How the hell are they going to get to it? Toriko put a hand on his hip and said, "Now, the rainbow fruit is before our eyes Komatsu and Setsuna!" '_I think Komatsu's life is flashing in front of his eyes again._' she thought as she looked over at the shorter man. Not that she would blame him cause she's doing her best not to freak. '_Let's see...which one is the pack boss?_' Toriko wondered as his eyes scanned the pack. How in the world can this man just stand here and not freak out? The girl wondered as she glanced over at the taller man. On second thought she'll take that back, gotta remember that this man ain't like the normal ones at home. Kinda makes her wonder if all men here were like this?

'_Even if I intimidate them seriously, it would be probably be useless... I've got the smell of that low rank member of the pack on me. They'll probably attack me without hesitation. I guess I can't avoid a fight._' The hunter continued to wonder to himself. It's gonna be tricky with trying to protect two people but...glancing over at the two he couldn't help but feel a tad bad that if something happens ah well. They knew the danger when they asked to come here. Looking over he noticed that the chef was freaking while the girl looked nervous. Didn't she feel any fear at all? Or does she have that much confidence in him? For some reason he hoped it was the latter. "Komatsu.." He started. He's gotta get the little guy to snap out of it. "Hey Komatsu!" Toriko said louder this time, getting his attention. "Y...yes..?" Komatsu asked with sweat and tears going down his face. Poor little guy. The way his muscles were tensing he was gonna be sore for a while. If she didn't know any better she'd say Komatsu aged a bit due to the extreme fear. "After we get back take a week off from the hotel. You probably won't be able to move an inch cause of the muscular soreness anyway." "Eh? You work at a hotel? What kind?" The girl asked. Kinda makes sense cause of all this stuff they were getting but what kind of hotel was it? "Y..yea.. I work as a chef for a 5 star hotel." 5 star hotel?! Argh! So much for trying some of his cooking! No way in hell was there any way she could afford that! Not back home and most certainly NOT here! Bad enough she was staying with Toriko (which she was quite thankful for cause she wouldn't even know where to look for a place to stay) not a chance was she gonna ask for money or anything. Speaking of which... if she's gonna be here a while she better find a job or something. So depressing.. Hm? Suddenly noticing that the giant hunter was kneeling down a bit she wondered what that was about when he said, "Get on and hang on tight you two." "EH?! SAY WHA?! ARE YOU INSANE?!" NOW she was freaking out. "Don't you need like two hands for those guys or something?!" Argh! He wants to fight his way through the army of the troll whatever WITH her and Komatsu on his back?! He's definitively out of his mind! She glared at him as he chuckled slightly. Why did she get the feeling that he was laughing at her expense? Really annoyed her! "Anyway, how will this work? If it was just two people it could work but..." She started as she watched Komatsu get on his back. "It'll be fine! Now hurry up and get on!" Toriko slightly growled as he watched the trolls get ready for an attack. This is insane this is totally insane! She mused nervously as she did was she was asked. Yup. Totally comfortable except that she's now really REALLY close and it didn't help that her and Komatsu had to wrap themselves practically around him while being practically on top of one another. '_Totally freaken awkward!' _She groused as the man stand up.

**Toriko's view of things**

This is going to be awkward. Carrying one person would hard enough but two? Ah well. Long as they held on tight they should be fine. "Komatsu! Setsuna! Cling to my back with all your body and spirit!" "That shouldn't be a problem." He heard Setsuna mumble into his back. Biting back a smile he continued, "Believe the whole time that if you loosen your grip you'll die in a hundredth of a second!" He felt both tighten the grip (although the girl was...kinda distracting but he should be able to ignore it...somehow) and heard Komatsu say, "R..right! I mean, we'll get out of this alive?!" "I dunno! You'd better pray!" Toriko said, excitement on his face. This was going to fun. "S..say what?! What does that mean?! Toriko!" Setsuna growled in a panic, he thought there was more but he didn't catch it due to the fact that the kongs decided to attack and had to quickly dodge one. "Whoa!" He shouted, using his hand as leverage to complete the dodge. Hope the two on him were doing ok. At least Komatsu. He didn't look like he'll live long if he keeps that up. "Waaa!" Komatsu cried out in a panic. "Thisreallyreallysucks!Totallysucks!Ishouldofstaye datthegate!" He bit back a chuckle. At least he knew the girl was doing well but for some reason he was under the impression he was going to get it later on no matter though. "The four arms sure are a pain." The hunter mused to himself. "Ya think Sherlock?" Setsuna growled from his back, tightening her grip. Oooh boy. Only kinda distracting. '_The mobility method characteristics of gorillas is called knuckle walking. Though the troll kong has the special trait of still being free to attack from that posture._' Suddenly one of the kongs came up from behind and almost got the group. "Whoop!" He went as he dodged, jumped, and ducked from all of the attacks. Against the troll kong's attacks his movements were actually very gentle. If the hunter moved like he normally would Komatsu and Andrea... Setsuna... wouldn't be able to hold onto him for even a single second. Thinking back he remembered on one occasion where one of his outings involved a silk bird egg which was as fragile as a soap bubble. He had to carry it undamaged from a pack of hyena gangs. He better use knocking. Reaching into the pocket he quickly got it out, jumped and used it on the nearest animal. Hope their yells weren't scaring the others too much. After getting one he did acrobatics to the other one, getting it in its shoulder joint, and landed neatly on the ground. "Everyone doing ok so far?" He asked. Komatsu made a terrified squeak and the only thing he got from the other was burying her head into his back even more. Ah. Right. She's afraid of heights if her scent from the bridge was any indication. Hopefully that fear will make her keep her grip. Quickly changing the empty cartridge for a fresh one he scanned the group of kongs, looking for the boss.

"H..hey I have to ask, Toriko-san! W..why are you using knocking?! They'll wake up again!" Yup. She's scared alright cause otherwise she'd get after him again. Looking back over his shoulder a bit he replied, "I told you. Our goal is the rainbow fruit and the troll kong's meat is all sinewy, you really can't eat it." He said the last part with a sigh. Komatsu had a "Eh?" look on his face so he explained simply, "I don't kill prey unless I have the goal of eating it! If I don't eat it, I don't kill it. If I kill it, I eat it!" "P..pretty r..reasonable t..to me.." Setsuna added, from the sounds of it she's trying not to let her fear control her. Wonder if he can help her with that later when this is all over. Komatsu stayed silent, a surprise shocked looked gracing his face. He felt the first droplet of rain was all the warning he had before it started to rain hard. '_Rain eh? Okay, that's good.'_ Without warning, the army of kongs, which had been standing and watching the group, suddenly lounged forward to continue their assault. "?! They're coming Toriko-san!" The chef shouted in excited fear. "A troll kong pack is a completely a hierarchical society. Until we beat the boss their gonna keep coming." "Say wha?! This is insane! Beat the boss?! This isn't a video game!" Setsuna growled out in distress. She really is amusing but if he said that at the moment he had the feeling she would bite him. Not that it would hurt or anything but still. Glancing at the knocking gun he wondered, '_I wonder if I have enough needles to last until then._'

**Setsuna's view of things**

Oh god! How much longer must she be on this wild ride?! With him doing all that jumping and running she wasn't sure how long she'll last! Riding on him like this isn't exactly her cup of tea and why did that sound so wrong?! Ugh. Must be cause of his acrobats due to him using knocking on them that's causing her to think weird things. Just how much of the stuff did he have? "Damn! There's no end to these guys!" Toriko said as he continued to dodge. There's no end to his stamina that much she was certain. Without warning one of the kongs grabbed one of Torikos's arms and lifted the group up. "Damn!" The hunter growled as the chef cried out in fear. It just had to be the arm holding the knocking gun. Being this close to the animal made her realize just how huge they were. She buried her face deeper into his back, trying her best to hold her scream in. If she's going there is no way she's going out like a wimp. It's not in her nature to be freaking and besides that she's a horror movie fanatic. She already knew that screaming wouldn't do any good. Just hope the giant hunter has a plan and a plan fast! '_The grip strength of a troll kong easily surpasses 1 ton.' _said hunter groused to himself. "This is legitimate self defense. Don't think badly of me." She heard the hunter tell the beast. From what she could tell he was gonna use that, what was it, knife?, thing on it when it suddenly let go. '_He let me go?! He felt he threat of my right hand?! That means the smell of the low ranking member that was on me is being washed off by the rain!' _ Toriko thought to himself as he stood in a stance, giving off a light intimidation. The girl happened to glance up when suddenly lighting struck the ground , causing a loud boom, flash and debris flying threw the air. "Kyaahh!" She squeaked in surprise as the boys went, "Ah!" "That was close!" Toriko said, eyeing the spot where lighting struck. "If that had struck the rainbow tree, it'd been over!" Ack. She didn't think of that. All she thought was that it was great it didn't nail the! Hate to have come all this way for nothing. "We have to hurry and find the boss! Which one was the first to get surprised by the lighting?!"_  
_

That she didn't know. She wasn't paying much attention sad to say. "Um..Toriko-San...the boss... Wouldn't he usually be the one least surprised?" Komatsu asked, from the sounds of it he was kinda curious. "It's the opposite. The most crucial ability for a pack's boss, even more so than strength, is crisis mangament. That doesn't just apply to troll kongs. It's the boss's job to be the first to sense danger. You could even say that ito true for human company presidents." The chef was silent for a moment before saying, "To...Toriko-san before the lighting struck there was a guy I saw that hid first." Eh? Now when did he notice that? Course not that she was helpful at the moment.. "What?" Toriko asked, whipping his head towards the chef. "Which one?" She watched as Komatsu lift a hand and pointed to a huge white troll kong hiding in the very back of the group. "T..the white guy over there." He replied. How in the world did they miss him? Now that he was pointed out she saw how he stood out with his silvery white fur. Must be something similar to the ones at home who change fur when in charge. "We found him. The "silver back"!" Toriko said with a smirk. "You could also call him the head troll! Nice work Komatsu!" The hunter added, looking back at him. "Pretty good work noticing that." "Ah...no.." Komatsu went, looking kinda surprised. She smiled a bit at that. Not used to praise or doesn't like it? Ah well. It was well deserved. Setsuna flashed him a smile when the chef looked over at her, which caused him to blush. The girl also noticed that he has calmed down a lot. Actually, now that she thinks of it she took a look around and blinked a bit when the troll kongs stood far back from them as Toriko proceeded to walk towards the tree. What in the world? Why weren't they attacking like before? And if she didn't know any better she'd say they were shaking and looked really scared. Scared of what? '_**Of Toriko's intimidation.'**_ She blinked at that. Now that the voice mentions it, didn't it explain something about intimidation before? What exactly is it? **_'Think of it as showing who's top brass around here. Remember the demon like appearance and the images you are seeing? That's Toriko's doing. In this world if you appear weak you will get run over. Or in the case here eaten.'_**That makes sense. Kinda. If she thinks about it more its kinda like the ones back home who appear to try tough. So instead of acting it the hunter is showing it? **_'Precisely. Only instead of acting he's just showing them who's the big man on campus. I would recommend on staying with him for the time being if I were you._****_' _**_'What does that mean?_' She thought back. Now that was new. It may have always talked to her before but never TO her. _**'Heh. You'll see soon enough. I'll come and fetch you from him when I get the** **chance.'**_ Now that alarmed the girl. _'What does that mean?! Come and fetch me?! Who are you?! What do you want?! If your with those people from before...!' **'Oh relax. Save all your questions for when we meet. It shouldn't be long now. I do hope your appreciating the explanations I have been so graciously providing you. I do hope you keep those in mind for the future. Later**_** Andrea.****'**

This is getting REALLY creepy REALLY fast. She gulped slightly. Really. This is getting to be too much! Why did it know her real name?! Oh yea. Cause it's been there since the beginning so it must of heard the group mention it. '_Better stick to him like glue cause there's no way in hell I can fight whatever that was off if its ANYTHING like that little girl!_' She noticed that they have stopped moving and looked up to see the silver back staring down at them. EH?! When did they get so close to him?! What is that man thinking?! This guy is HUGE compared to the others! Komatsu looked nervous, not that she blames him on that cause being in front of a giant animal isn't her idea of fun but as she watched Toriko reached out a hand and suddenly she had the impression that his hanyuu or demon or whatever it was, gently had its hand on the troll kong. _'Guess that means the fight is over?_' The girl mused to herself. It was fine by her. Her arms were beginning to hurt, not a chance in heck was she gonna go threw all that jumping around again and when the heck did it get so silent? It was so quiet that only the rain could be heard falling. Wow. Talk about a way to end a battle. (Didn't something like this only happens in movies? A dramatic fight, hero winning and standing in the rain?) Ai, ai, ai. This guy is something else. She bit back a smile as the thought of him being something akin to a hero flashed through her mind. Given his personality she couldn't see that happening. The hunter knelled down and she quickly got off, sinking to her knees in relief. Oh how her limbs ache! She can't remember a time where she had to cling for dear life! Well, scary mazes and the like doesn't count but still. "I really don't wanna go through that again." Setsuna groaned, trying to get feeling back into her limbs. "A..are you alright Setsuna?" The little chef asked, bending by her a bit. She smiled at him warily, "Yea. Just a little worn out. Heights aren't exactly my thing." "Thought so. You gave off the smell of fear back at the bridge." Toriko commented as he started going towards the tree. "H...hey..! Wait up!" She called after him, Komatsu helping her up. "Thanks Komatsu." The girl said as the two quickly rushed up to the giant hunter. Up ahead was the rainbow fruit tree. It kinda looked like an over sized berry whatever it was called. At the very top was different color fruits in shades she's never seen on fruits before and they were HUGE. Must be big enough to feed at least 30 or 40 people but don't go with her estimate. Guessing correctly wasn't exactly her forte when numbers are mixed in. Truth is seeing this tree made her feel very small and she already came about to Toriko's elbow.

**~Days Later at Hotel Gourmet~**

_'NOT my idea of fun.' _The girl growled silently to herself. After getting the fruit the group made their way to the chef's hotel. Hotel Gourmet was NOT what she expected. In fact, this whole TOWN wasn't what she expected. Sure she knew that the people here were crazy for food but that went to a WHOLE new level here! She doesn't remember seeing so many signs for food before! Even the news people talked about it! She doesn't even like the news that much to begin with either! Speaking of news when the giant man told her she had to dress nice she thought causal nice would be ok. Boy oh boy was she wrong. Not only this was a fancy restaurant it was a 5 star place! She's never been to a place this fancy let alone a 5 star place no less! Luckily amoung the cloths that were in her bags one of her nice dresses was packed in. (She'd like to know exactly who packed her things cause all she found were all the girly cloths she had and there wasn't that much to wear. Jeesh. If she's gonna be going on adventures like the last one those cloths are beyond unfit) Good thing she had time to change into her favorite black dress. Wasn't anything fancy. Black tank top straps made out of cotton material with a cross pattern on the front made up with blue flowers. Only reason why she put this one on was because it was comfortable and really flowly. (Only problem was that she had to keep track of it cause if the light hit it just right one could see underneath. Good thing there was a slip under the dress itself and she had to keep an eye on the wind or else she's gonna be panty flashing people which she would have to kill) The place itself wasn't that bad; except being on the 97th floor which just made her feel giddy. Not. Other than being up really high the place was a typical restaurant with the only difference being that everything in here was super fancy and super expensive. Speaking of expensive, she watched as Toriko ordered even more food from the back. When they first arrived here she couldn't help but wonder why the entire place was reserved. It seemed odd until she saw the vast amount of food this man ordered. The way he was going he was gonna clean this place out! And the way the people here jumped to serve! Although she's gotta remember to ask what the waiters meant when they called him the heavenly king.

Toriko cut into a piece of meat, bit into it and went, "Mmmmm. Delicious.3 It's been a while since I've had crab pig." "I..is that so sir? It's crab pig roast rolled in angel's raiment lettuce." The waiter replied nervously. Poor guy. Seeing how much this guy is eating anyone would be nervous. "It's yummy! Bring some more!" Toriko told him as he continued to eat. "How can you say you want more when you've eaten so much already!?" She asked in astonishment. "Heh. I need to keep up my energy." was her answer as he continued to stuff his face. other than him stuffing himself silly she's gotta say he cleans up very will. The tux look fits him quite well although personally she preferred his other look. It felt weird being so dressed up. (Or under in her case. Fancy places weren't a top fav. She'd rather be out running around then trussed up but whatever) "Miss would you like some more water?" One of the waiters asked, obviously been relieved of bringing out more food for the hunter with the hundred stomachs. Even though Komatsu said he'd cover her but still, there's no way she could in good conscious order outrageous food. Once the meal was done she's got a little surprise for the boys as thanks for everything so far. She still couldn't get over how much food Toriko was eating and these weren't exactly small plates of food and the table could easily fit at least ten or more people and it was never empty of food. Not to mention that he was eating at a incredible rate although it kinda made her wonder where it was going yet again. Although it was fun to watch cause he reminded her of a big kid having fun, what with all those ridiculous expressions he's been making. She hid a smile as she tried some more from her FRIST and ONLY plate (from what she could tell the waiters seemed kinda relieve she wasn't eating like the other man).

Another fun thing to watch was the expressions the waiters were making. She guessed that since the hunter was practically gulping whole foods down that they were impressed by the sheer amount...or were they impressed by the amount of grams he was eating in one bite? As the girl continued to eat she couldn't help but notice him drinking yet another bottle of booze. Jeesh. This guy's gonna be drunk off his ass soon if he keeps that up. "Are you alright Toriko? That's like your fifth bottle of booze and from the looks of the waiters faces it's the good stuff." The hunter chuckled. "It's nothing I can't handle." He replied as he turned to look at a nearby server. "Could I have some cognac? And then some beer as a chaser." He asked him as the waiter replied certainly. "Your going to drink even more?!" She said I astonishment which only earned her a laugh from him. "Glad your having a good time." She growled slightly in amusement, trying to show annoyance instead. Toriko smiled brightly As he nodded. "Of course! You should try to lighten up!" Biting back a smile she said, "Your a pretty laid back kind of guy aren't you?" Shrugging a bit as he popped open another bottle and down it. "Guess you can say that. I gotta say though Im pretty impressed on how your taking things." She blinked at that. "What do you mean?" Looking directly at her (which she did her best not to blush. Why is it when he looks at her like that she blushes and feels weak kneed?) as he continued. "Dropping in a place like I would of expected someone to be freaking out more and such." Ah. Now she gets it. He wants to know why she isn't acting like what she calls a normal person. She gave a slight chuckle before she answered, "That's easy. My sister and I made an agreement together." He frowned a little at that as she continued, "If we were to ever end up in a scary situation or something we won't be one of those stupid morons who scream and run around like dumbasses. We'd fight and try to stay and such."

"That's a pretty high expectation." Toriko commented as he continued to eat. The desert must be coming out soon she mused. In the end he only brought back only one rainbow fruit. Half of which he gave to the IGO (she still has to ask what the heck that is) and the remaining half he sold at the auction at the world's kitchen (She has never people go THAT nuts over fruit before until then. For sure she thought they were gonna kill each other or something for it) and a small part from the auction half was bought by Komatsu's restaurant and will be provided as a meal tonight. As Toriko finished a huge bowl of Raman one of the waiters said nervously the others whispered among themselves, "A..and that would be everything from today's menu." "Well..," the hunter started as he took out the cigar bark and lit it. She still found it fascinating that he could light it with a literal snap of his fingers. "I think I'm about a tenth full." "Tenth full?! After eating all that food your not even NEAR full?!" Setsuna practically shouted in surprise. This man sent into the triple digits of eating normal people's food. What the hell would it take to fill him?! No. She doesn't want to know. Just thinking about the sheer amount was unthinkable let alone him EATING it. A bit of drool started to form as he continued on, "Now then, next is the main course." Looking ovwe she saw the chef pushing a cart with what had to be the prettiest puddings she had ever seen. Its coloring reminded her of a rainbow...wait..no way! Was that the fruit they got?! If Komatsu turned that into that then damn! He was one hell f a cook! As if the meal he provided wasn't proof enough... Hm? Was he drooling as well?

**Toriko's view of things**

'_This restaurant of Komatsu's.. It has the quality to be called just a 5 star. But now it has an ingredient that is even greater than that level._' the man thought to himself as stood up, drooling going down his chin at the mere sight of the desert. '_Caramel shrimp, peacock quail egg, cream matsutake mushroom, albino Cinderella beef and the high class brandy energy hennessy but...! Those all together are not even enough that I could call them a foil to make this seem better. That's how much of a difference in rank it's presence has!' Suddenly _he noticed something forming over the desert. Hey, hey you're kidding right? He mused as he continued to look on. The fruit juice is evaporating and it's forming a rainbow! Glancing over he noticed that the girl was staring at the fruit in wonder. He also noticed that she wasn't drooling. Interesting. "A..as I thought, it would be delicious to *gulp* eat like this. I kept the fruit's temperature at 5 degrees Celsius. *gulp*" He wiped his chin a bit before continuing. "As time passes the temperature will go up... *gulp* the flavor will *gulp* change too. Go ahead. Zlowly *gulp gulp* enjoy *gulp* your meal *gulp*"

"Your drooling *gulp* too much, Komatsu." The hunter told him, his own drool going down his chin. "You too Torigo-Zan." The chef said as he put the food onto the table. A giggle was heard next to them and turned to see Setsuna resting her chin on her hand with her arm resting in the table. Mischief was flashing threw her eyes as she said, "It's not even a contest. Your both drooling so much." Biting back a grin he shrugged and sat back down. "Now..." He began, eyeing the food like prey with silverware in each hand, "Itadakimasu!" Taking a spoon he gently dipped it into the food and it went in softly, like sinking into pudding. When he scooped some up he noticed that it was heavy enough to make him think of gold's weight. Everyone was staring at him as he raised the spoon to his lips and took a bite. His eyes shot open at it as the flavor changed twice in his mouth. Twice! And he hadn't even taken the spoon out of his mouth yet. ..4! '_Seriously?! The taste has already changed four times! This sweetness is as sugary as 100 ripe mangos condensed into one taste! And every now and then a sourness incomparable to any lemon or kiwi shows itself!_' as he savored it it changed taste yet again!

The taste reminded him of the fragrance of broiled sweet chestnuts. Is this taste a department store? As he swallowed it it yet again changed taste. Even after passing his throat it still had an explosive presence!

**Setsuna's view of things**

As she watched the man he gave off a pretty satisfied aurora. As tears streamed down his face the hunter said, "I've decided on desert." Hm? Decided on what desert? "Three years ago in that town the fortune I had told to me was right on the mark!" Turning to Komatsu he said to him, "Komatsu! Gather the staff! I decided on one item of my full course menu! We all gotta celebrate don't we?!" Komatsu smiled excitedly as he nodded and proceeded to gather the stuff. She couldn't help but smile. "You really enjoy your work don't you?" Setsuna asked him as he downed his drink. He chuckled. "Of course. Doesn't everyone have a job they love?" She frowned slightly. Wished she could say the same thing. "What is it?" He asked, worry in his tone. She shook her. "It's nothing. Must be nice to say that. Back home I don't think I know anyone who can honestly say that. As for myself I'm still trying to find a job that makes me happy." Glancing over she smiled and said, "When I do find one I hope I can be as happy in it as you are in yours." His face looked a little red and was about to say something when all staff came in cheering while carrying bottles of wine and the like. "And of course more booze." She chuckled as she watched the group cheer. She may not be getting home any time soon but from the looks of it she won't be bored. Not as long as she's with these two guys. Maybe that wasn't a bad thing..


	5. Coco

In** a town far from Gourmet Hotel**

As the man concentrated he frowned deeply, lost in thought. The costumer he was with watched on nervously, really worried. He had a lot riding on this fortune! So he better nothing but good news! After getting silence for a few minutes the balding man adjusted his suit nervously before asking, "H..how does it look, Coco-sama?" The man in the green turban sighed and replied in a annoyed voice, "Ah... It's hopeless." "Hopeless?! The 5 million I invested in golden corn?! The value won't go up?!" The older man asked in a panicky voice. The younger man held his hands up a bit before continuing, "No,no,no. That's not what I meant. I was talking about myself." The man in the suit blinked a bit with a blank look on his face. "Eh?" Holding up a hand palm up to his face and continued, "It says there will be a visitor with three scars under his left eye.." He put his elbow on the table and rested his chin in his hand. "A guy I know really well. Ah... I've got a bad feeling about this." As he continued to stare at his hand he got something else. '_A woman is coming with him? What's that about? A girlfriend or something?'_ No. Something about her was wrong. He got the feeling something big was coming. Something big and nasty. And it was coming for her. Or maybe it was just him. Whatever. He'll just have to wait and see what happens.

**~A week later~**

Once again the hunter had a bottle of booze and stuffing his face full of food. How this man isn't drunk off his rump is beyond her. She eyed at least 7 or 8 bottles of different alcohol. The amount of the drinks wasn't bad but the train was QUITE a different story. No one said that the train would be going OVER cliffs and such let alone on how up they were. Argh. Why she'd let these two talk her into coming along she'll never know. Doing her best NOT to look out the window she made sure she was the farthest away from it. After finishing off a bottle he went, "That was good! Platinum lemon really goes well with tequila! Right Komatsu?" The little chef looked at all the empty bottles placed on the side of the table. "But how did you drink bottle of 750ml in one stroke?" He asked, clearly in disbelief. She's gotta agree on that one. No one can drink a whole bottle like that and not get drunk. "And this is your tenth bottle right?" At that she started a bit. "Tenth bottle?! Are you planning on drinking the train dry?!" He grinned cheekily at that and replied, "I can't help it! I'm getting excited at the thought of meeting the legendary phantom whale!" Ooh boy here they go again.

"You mean the puffer whale!" Komatsu said just as excited. Ever since they found out that this puffer whale was coming in a herd was coming they couldn't get packed fast enough. From what she understood that this phantom herd of whales, often called puffer whales, migrated to shallow sea for once in ten years egg laying. That doesn't strike her as unusual. There were similar species that did the same thing only with a few year differences. Which made the boys go into high gear and the next thing she knew the group was on a train with many different bishoku-yas heading towards a town called fortune or something to meet some guy to help find some beach cave where the eggs are being laid. Taking a bite out of his sandwich Toriko said, "There is only one problem and that is that their extremely poisonous." "If you talking bout the license to take out the poison in puffer fish I got." The chef replied while holding a finger. A license? Huh. '_Never thought one would need a license for that. Wonder if they got one back home? I'll look into it when I get back...if I ever get back...wonder if anyone is missing me?_' She's pretty sure her family is missing her and some close friends but still. Are they looking for her? She hoped no one was worrying themselves sick or doing something drastic. What bout work? Would the job still be there or us she screwed? What about school?

**Toriko's view of things**

"Even I have that sort of thing. The problem is that it's not going to be easy." He said to the chef as he continued to eat. "Yeah I thought." The other man said nervously. "Wasn't puffer whale classified as a special caution food?" He added as he watched him drink down another bottle. "Actually. its said that there's only ten cooks who can take out the poisonous organs in the world." The hunter said thoughtfully. If he can get that one to help him out but he wasn't too sure if he'll help though. "Toriko-San you know him right! One of those cooks.." the little chef began. The hunter chuckled a bit as he took a sip from the bottle. "You came putely for that, right? Well, he isn't necessary a cook but.." He stopped when he noticed that the girl seemed lost in her thoughts, her expression made his heart twinge. "Hey. You ok Setsuna?" He asked but she didn't seem to have heard him. Komatsu looked over and saw her. "Setsuna? Are you alright?" She didn't seem to hear him either. Louder this time he said, "Setsuna!" He bit back a laugh as that shocked her out of her thoughts, making her jump pretty good. "Huh? Wha?" She asked. "Did I miss something?"

"You looked lost in thoughts and wanted to make sure your doing ok." He simply said as he took a bite out of something. Her eyes darken for a second before saying with a smile, "Yea I'm fine. Just got a lot on my mind." She couldn't fool him for a second. She was thinking of home. "Are you sure your alright? You looked pretty sad." The chef asked, concern in voice. Andrea...Setsuna...flinched very slightly, not noticeable to the chef but quite To him, and was about to say something when someone roared out and a bottle was broken, making the other jump. He looked over to see a follow bishoku-ya standing there with half a broken glass bottle. Not much in the way of looks and didn't appear to be too smart either but who was he to judge. "Why aren't there any good liquors on this train?! Huh?! This freaking piece of junk!" The guy yelled. Man did his voice grate on the ears. He happened to glance over to their table and saw the case he had bought when they got on the train.

"Hey, hey." He started as he walked/stormed over. "I was only thing that the quality of the liquor was too bad but it was you who bought it all?! Shitty bastard!" The unkept man growled at him. "Hmm?" was all he went which seemed to set the man off. "Do you know who I am? oy! I'm Zonge the bishoku-ya! Lemme show you my full course menu!" He whipped out a list that showed some low level ingredients which of course fit his level. "My main dish is that galala croc! I killed it just a while ago. (Even though it was just a newborn)! Surprised aren't you?!" "Zonge-sama, please don't pick on the likes of him." One of his groupies said. It appeared the main didn't want any trouble. "Hmmm right. Now give me some of the liquors." He had to laugh a bit. He's getting on now was he? Well to be really picked on he would have to be surrounded by 7 of the toughest. Ah well. Just as he was about to stand up the girl said sharply, "Why should he give you some? He paid for it fair and square! If you want some you should of asked politely instead of acting like a loud jerk!"

"Eh?! What did you just say?!" Zombie growled as he turned his attention towards her. Eyes flashing she glared at him (why is it that she looked so cute when angry) and snapped at him, clearly not in the mood to deal with him, "You heard me! Or do you have so much wax in your ears that's preventing you from hearing?!" His lips twitched at that. She's got spunk he'll give her that. When he saw the man reaching for her he suddenly stood up, catching the man completely by surprise. Placing a hand on the stunned man's shoulder he said, "Zombie-kun! Well, hats one impressive menu you got there. Excellent." "It's Zonge," the girl cut threw but he ignored her as he continued. "If you want some liquor, take as much as you want. It's my fault for buying them all for myself." he finished as the stunned man said, "Oh...ooh I...I'm Zonge. Remember it well." After taking some he and his groupies walked on.

"Are you ok with that Toriko-San?" Komatsu asked nervously. "With what?" The hunter asked, taking a swing from another bottle. "With that challenge just now.." Ah that. "Right. His real purpose probably wasn't the liquor. This train is filled with bishoku-yas and all of them are seeking the puffer whale. It's very possible for them to fight over the few whales at the site. They are already started to test each other's fepth and right now that guy tried to intimdate the others. Speaking of which, " he looked over at Setsuna who was glaring at the floor a bit. "Be careful on who you back talk. I know most won't but there are a rare few who won't mind hitting a woman." Not that he'll let that happen on his watch. Ever. He'll kill the bastard who would dare. Eh? Now where are these feelings coming from? She gave a unladylike snort, which made his lips twitch a bit, and said, "I'd like to see them try." The hunter frowned a bit as she dug around in her bag a bit and pulled out something. It looked interesting but what could that do? "What's that Setsuna?" The little chef asked, looking at it curiously. She smirked slightly and said proudly, "A taser.3 If well placed it'll knock a grown man down." Toriko noted that she seemed a little too happy on the last part. Then he suddenly understood what that statement meant.

"Are you for real?! Going for that part?!" He asked in shock. The chef didn't get it until a second later. "Eh?! Isn't that too much?!" Smiling she replied back, "Nope. If someone wants to attack me they'll get THIS instead and it's to the max. It won't work on any of the creatures here but it'll do on the human variety." Egads. What a sadistic woman! Well, it'll work on the NORMAL humans but what about the others? The chef coughed a bit before saying, "Then why all the more...why did you give him the liquor for free?" The girl nodded. "I gotta say that man didn't deserve a drop of that! Even if he was trying to show who was top brass!" He chuckled a bit as he started to explain. "As they say: in traveling company, in life's sympany. Since there are times of competition, there are times when we should help each other out. Right Setsuna?" She blushed lightly at that before nodding.

**Setsuna's view of things **

Argh. The man had a point. It would be easier if everyone got along instead of trying to fight each other. Alright he won on that only because if he didn't believe that she would most likely be at that baron island or whatever and most likely dead. She was about to say something when an elderly voice said, "Hmmm excuse me." Looking over she saw a old guy who appeared to be drunk sporting the oddest hair style. "Can you..spaire mee..some liguor pleash? I'm kinda...not goods..with high places..so wheneva I look out the windows.. I was so scared I couldn't stand it." Immediately she felt sympany for him. "Don't feel too bad. I'm scared of high places as well." She told him. "Isn't...terrible being up in...so high place?" Just as she nodded Toriko said, "Are you trying to get rid of the terror by being drunk? But you know, aren't you shaking because you ran out of alcohol?" Eh? She looked at the old man again and saw he was indeed shaking. Oh dear. He's an alcoholic?

"Well, there's that as well." "You can have them all mister. We're getting off at the next station anyways." The old man blinked a bit in confusion. "Eh... The next station..?" "The town of fortune telling! Gourmet Fortune!" With that said the train slowly started to slow down. Guess they were pretty close. At least it's all dessert now cause there'd be no way she'd be getting off if the town was on a cliff or something. Watch. The voice will come back with a explainton about this town. Right on cue the voice said, **_'Gourmet Fortune. A town well known for its divination since long ago. For the recent years, along with the growth of food industry, the custumers gradually became mostly day traders and Gourmet related investors. Even though there are a few bogus fortune tellers aiming to get on the pay grade, the authenticity of this town's fortune telling is quite high.' _**_'I'll just take your word on that._' She said silently to the voice. Wonder if she'll ever get a name to it or if it's just gonna be called the voice. In the bright side at least it's not like that tv show where judges sit with their backs turn to hear someone sing without seeing their appearance until they decide they like what they hear.

As she gingerly got off the train the older man said, "Th..thank you sir. I will pay you back for the liquor som *hiccip*" Toriko waved his hand as he replied, "Don't worry about it. Though don't drink too much, old mister." "Like you should talk yourself Toriko!" "H..how about yourself Toriko-san!" The two said at the same time as the group walked further into town. As the group walked Komatsu looked back towards where the train was and said, "But that was my first time seeing a white regent hair style! That old sir was really funky wasn't?" The girl shrugged a bit. She's pretty sure she's seen worse and even more sure that there was even more things worse than that old man's style. "We're here you two." Was all that the giant hunter said. "Yes! so there's someone who can handle the puffer whale!" The chef said excitedly. She giggled a bit. These two sure love the food here. Kinda makes her jealous cause the food back home... She shook her head. Don't go down that road. She'll only make the boys worry again and she didn't want none of that. Eh? Looking around all she saw was a town that kinda reminded her of a western town but... "Where is everyone? I've never seen a town this empty!"

"Yeah. I don't see a single person." The little chef said next to her. The giant hunter took a puff from his cigar and then said, "Maybe it's time for the wild beasts to come out." "Say wha?!" The girl went as Komatsu turned and saw a beware for wild beasts sign. "Wow! It's really true!" Ai, ai, ai. Nothing can be that simple hm? She mused as the hunter continued. "They do come up from time to time. The fortune tellers here predict the time for dangerous animals to approach the town and to counter them the citizens hide themselves behind poisonous walls. There hasn't been a single person attacked I the last few decades and that's why they say the fortunes are so reliable here." Ok. Whatever he just said did NOT make any sense to her. Ah well. At least she got the geist of it. "now that I think about it, there were rumors of the puffer whale information came from this town and that's why the market was in such turmoil." The chef startedwhen he suddenly a lone figure making their way down the empty street. "Ah! A person! There's a person, Toriko-San and Setsuna!" The figure got the hunter's attention. From what she she could the person was male, tall though not as tall as the man next to her, sporting a green turban, what appeaered to be a black one piece with more green wrappings on the arm, waist and legs. What is he doing?

Without warning a giant dinosaur like beast with wings appeared next to the man. "Ahhh! A beast!" Komatsu yelled in terror. She couldn't agree more but why was Toriko standing here so calmly? He must know something about this man that the others don't. Her suspensions were confirmed when she heard him say, "You came for me, hm? Or rather, you knew I was coming didn't you?" The beast lounged forward to take a bite out of him. "Ahhhh! Watch out!" The chef shouted as he covered his eyes, The man really wasn't moving. "Hey! Watch out! Get out of the way!" She shouted but the beast stopped within mere inches of the man. She blinked at the sight of the animal as it turned and wandered out of town. What in the world was that all about? Komatsu cautiously opened an eye and asked, " W..what happened?" The turban man finally got closer to the group and stopped. She blushed lightly. Damn was he fine! With those dark eyes, pale handsome face and black hair. For some reason she had the impression that he was quite the gentlemen. '_Must be the way he's holding himself._' she thought as the man spoke.

"What a troublesome customer to have. The wild beast was much cuter." The man said in a smooth tone. Wooooow. Must be a real lady killer with those combos. The man next to her just laughed and replied, "Didn't finish up your full course menu, Coco? The gentleman of the four heavenly kings?" Coco chuckled a bit before replying, "Three more I guess. How about you, Toriko? The glutton of the four heavenly kings?" She snickered at that. "Glutton so fits him, what with that insane amount of food he eats." The girl muttered to herself as the said glutton shook his head at her. "Tor...Toriko-San...you mean...he..he's the.. " the chef started before shouting excitedly, "One of the four heavenly kings Bishokuya Coco! Did you mean him when you talked about the one who can handle the puffer whale!" "My someone is excited." Setsuna said with a laugh. "Hey, you're too loud, Komatsu! You always get so excited so easily be surprised ore peacefully. More gracefully." The girl got annoyed at that. "He's not hurting anyone! Sides that, I've known people who were louder then him." She told him, glaring at him which earned her a shrug from him. Men! "I...sorry I was so..." The chef started before he was interrupted by the dark man.

"Don't worry too much about it. Clear water breeds no fish. It means people with bad habits are more likable . Your impoliteness shown by your eyes can actually make people around you feel your affability." Coco told him. That was a unpleasant encouragement. Suddenly voices were heard as people started to come out of hiding. "Is the beast gone?" "What was that loud rude voice just now?" Were some of the questions that were among the group. She glanced over and saw the dark man was getting a nervous look. Wha? Doesn't like crowds? Suddenly someone shouted, "Ah! It's Coco-sama!3" and with that said the poor man was immediately swamped him in a large crowd of both women and men."S..Stop it! Stop touching me!" Coco yelled, trying to get away from the crowd. She felt so bad for him as the women tried to get their hands on him while they tried to get him to tell their fortunes. Argh. Their voices were getting annoying. Ah well. Might as well go help the poor man out. Walking forward she yelled out angrily, "ENOUGH! STOP THAT AT ONCE!" Immediately all eyes turned to look at her in confusion while Coco stood there with a surprised look on his face. Narrowing her eyes she put a hand on her hip as she continued. "Can't you idiots see that he's uncomfortable?! Back away from him! Now!" Not bothering to wait she stormed over, took his hand and proceeded to drag him from the group of women.

**Toriko's view of things**

He stood there in shock as he watched the girl try to drag Coco out from that mess. Coco behind her with an amusing shock surprised look on his face. Wait...is he blushing? Suddenly feeling annoyed at them he was about to turn away when one of the women said, "You can't hog Coco-sama to yourself!" With that statement it seemed to open the flood gates cause once again he and now the girl were swallowed up in the crowd, only this time they were now bugging the girl. "You can't hog Coco-sama! He belongs with me!" "No! Me! Tell me our fortune Coco-sama!" "What the hell is wrong with you people?! Back off or I'm gonna seriously get pissed!" Setsuna growled at the women but they refused to move an inch as the group argued on who gets the man. He's gotta admit, Andrea had them by surprise until they snapped out of it. It would be even funnier to watch Coco freak as the women swarm around him but watching them arguing with Setsuna was funnier. He laughed hard when he heard her tell one of the women, "Back off before I deck you one! Go ahead! Hit me and see what happens ya love sick dip!"

Coco obviously had enough cause he said, "T..Toriko! Let's change locations! Let's talk in my home with some!" Hello! Now he's talking! "Food?" He said to himself before rushing over and picking up both the dark man and the girl with both arms. (Although the girl gave an indignant "hey!" as he did so) "Hey y'all! Are y'all chickens? Get away from here! He's got something really important to do!" He shooed at the groupies as some went, "Gyaaa! What's with this giant?!" and "A yeti? An ape?". Whatever. He didn't care as long as there's food involved! Ah well. At least the groupies left so he sent the two down again. "Why did you pick me up for?! I had it under control!" The girl rumbled at him as she straighten her cloths out. Too funny although he did wonder how she'd fight them off. It cooled quickly when it dawned on him that she would of fought off those women for his friend. Not fair. Why didn't she defend him when they were saying all that crap? Oh. Right. He had her distracted. Shaking his head to clear it he told the others, "Let's get going! I'm hungry!" "Again?! Are you a bottomless pit or something?!" Setsuna asked him in shock. Now that he thinks about it she's never shown disgust at the amount of food he eats. She even challenges him on it along with the booze. Wonder when the last time a woman did that? Never. "This way please." Coco said, pointing down a path to his house. "Right! Let's get going!" Toriko said excitedly as he started down the path. "Toriko-San they said you were an ape." Komatsu started. "Even though you have the charisma of the gourmet age."

The hunter scoffed at that. "I don't give a damn about that. Who were these people?" He said, having a feeling he knew the answer already. "They are my customers. Please forgive them." The tall dark man told them. "Say wha?! I have never meant a customer as bad as THOSE people! Honestly! Swarming over someone the way they were? How rude!" The girl scoffed out loud. He chuckled a bit at that. This girl was unlike he has ever met before. "Eh? Co..Coco-San you do fortunetelling as well?" The chef asked, appearing to be confused a bit. Another fun guy as well, even though he's quite a timid little guy. Looking back the dark man answered, "That's my main job at this town." Toriko huffed a bit at that as he took a puff from his cigar. "Our old man is probably lamenting over that right now." "Eh? Why would he do that? If it's something Coco enjoys then why be unhappy about that?" Setsuna asked innocently. He frowned a bit at the drop of honorifics. The hunter didn't mind but he wasn't sure if he wanted her to be over familier with people. Agh! What is with him?! Ever since he met her he's been getting strange thoughts and strange feelings. Before he could answer Coco answered ruefully, "It's a long story miss." "By the way, what happened to Zebra?" He asked off handed, wondering if that guy caught or what. "He got caught. Right now he's in the gourmet prison." The other man answered. At that he laughed a bit. "Finally caught! That problem child!" Toriko slowly stopped laughing as he remembered the old days where the four of them spent their time training almost to death in the garden. "It was unfortunate and unavoidable." Coco said as they continued to walk.

**Setsuna's view of things**

She watched the exchange as they continued to walk down the dirt path. Was it just her or did Toriko seem to be kinda sad about something? Was this Zebra person a close friend or something? "That made me recall the days we trained ourselves to death in the garden... and in time we came to be called the four heavenly kings." "Why are you guys called the heavenly kings?" She asked. Now's a good chance as any to ask but the two large men didn't seem to hear her, which kinda irritated her. "Um... cause of all the amazing stuff they've done and the feats they've accomplished. " The little chef answered for her. She flashed him a smile and said, "Thanks. I was starting to wonder if that question was ever going to be answered." Before he could say anything the dark man up ahead said, "There. That's my home." They were there already? That was fa...no. No. Nononononononononono. Home appeared to be on a lone stone pillar who knows how far from a cliff that was in front of them. "But Coco-san there's only a cliff..." Komatsu started before noticing the house on the pillar. "Hey wait a sec. Is that your home? How do you get across?" Who cares about that what its a sheer drop down?! Her heart rate won't go down at the sight so she quickly turned away, turning very pale. "Kissu!" Coco called out. Who or what is Kissu? Suddenly flapping sounds were heard from above and she looked up in time to see the largest crow ever land in front of them. "AHH! A CROW MONSTER!" The chef called out as the crow landed. "All right Kissu. Get down." The dark man told the crow as it landed next to him. "I see.." Toriko started, "The ruler of the sky, Emperor Crow! Was it not an extinct species?" Coco chuckled as he petted the bird. ""He's part of my family." He looked over at the group before continuing. "Carrying four people would be too much for Kissu. How about two at a time across?" "Sounds good to me." "Three." The boys looked over at her and went, "Eh?" "I said three." She said promptly. "There is no way I am crossing over! I'm staying RIGHT here! Uh huh! No way no how!" At that the giant hunter started laughing hard. "That's right. I almost forgot you don't like heights. Relax. Coco knows his stuff." Looking at him wearily the girl shook her head in defiance. The giant man walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "You trusted me this far right?" She nodded, not liking where this was heading. "Then you can trust this." "Not on your life." She told him. "Ooook. How about this: if you go across you can ask Coco how to get home." "Hey! Don't be offering my services without asking!" Coco said annoyed. Rotten man. Much as she hated to admit it he had a good point. Argh...she'll kick his ass later. Hanging her head in defeat she nodded. "That was quick! I thought for sure you'd have put up more of a fight!" Komatsu went as Toriko thought, '_Not at the moment but I'll bet my fortune that she's gonna make me pay for this stunt._'

"Let's...go..." She said glumly. '_He will totally PAY for this! One way or another!_' She growled mentally to herself as the girl looked up at the bird. The bird, Kissu, was quite a magnificent now that she thinks of it. The beautiful black feathers, the way it, he, held himself. Fine then. At least she can ride something that awesome. "I'll take the little lady and myself across first." Toriko nodded. "Sounds good to me." Komatsu offered her a smile which she tried to smile back. "Kissu. Kneel down please." The dark man asked the bird. The moment he got on he suddenly surprised her by picking her up as if she weighed nothing. "Meep!" She squeaked out in surprise as the man placed her behind him. "Now then. Please hold on tight.." Without warning she wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face into his back, causing him to blush. "Uhh..." He started but was quickly cut off by her saying, "Just get it over with." Toriko laughed at that. "You'll have to bear with that until you land, Coco." She felt the man nod before the bird took off. "Gyaa!" She yelled slightly as she tightened her grip. The man chuckled a bit. "It's alright. Its not a long flight over." "Says you! YOU try having to fly high when your scared of heights! I swear if I ever get home I'm never going to leave my apartment!" She retorted. The girl felt him cough a bit and asked, "Could... you loosen your grip please? Its kinda starting to hurt." Setsuna could try but she made no promises. Just as she slowly loosened her grip she felt the crow descend down. '_HappythoughthappythoughtshappythoughtsohmygodImgoi ngtodieImgoingtokickthatdamnbluehairedsassohmygod! _' She thought, squeezing her eyes shut even more then they were. There was so much to do! So much things left unfinished! Toriko! Suddenly, just like that, they landed gracefully. "We're here. You can let go now." It took her a few seconds before she somehow managed to unlock her arms from around him and then he helped her down. "Are you alright?" The dark man asked as the crow went to get the other two.

"Eh? Where'd she go?" Coco asked, looking around for her. Setsuna had her back to the wall of the house, trying to get as far from the edge as possible. He stifled a chuckle as he walked over to her and knelt down. "I take it your not doing good?" "Doing good. Never better. I'm going to kill that man when this is over." The girl said stiffly, trying her best not to freak out. The man stood up and offered his hand to her. "Lets go inside and wait for the others. It would be better if you can't see the drop right?" The girl could only nod as she slowly reached out to take his hand. "There we go." He said encouragingly after helping her stand and leading her inside. She limply sat down in a chair. Ai, ai, ai. Some adventure this was turning out to be. "Tea?" The man asked, already starting to make some. "Please." Sighing deeply she said, "I'm sorry about this. Heights and I... aren't exactly friends." Coco chuckled at that. "Noted." Looking outside he saw Kissu land with Toriko and Komatsu. It appears the others are here. Guess I better get started cooking then." As he put the tea in front of her the boys walked into the house. "I see your still alive! I thought for sure you were gonna have a heart attack or something!" Toriko started just before she growled at him, "You SUCK! You totally, TOTALLY suck! ARGH!" The giant man laughed hard at that. "Guess that means she's better...since she's already yelling at you." The chef next to him said as he walked over. "Are you alright Setsuna?" "I've had better days." She said honestly.

**~A while later~**

"Wow." Coco began as he poured three drinks. "So you've decided that the fruit of the rainbow is your fruit dish. Hehe. I told you the right thing." He carried the drinks from the kitchen to the table where everyone was sitting before continuing. "Well.. I really like your choice. The taste that changes seven times is quite interesting and gets better in the end. But on the contrary, the meat dish should be something fundamental, thick and heavy right?" "Um... Coco-san?" I don't think he's even listening at the moment." The girl told him as she watched the hunter inhale the food while saying between bites, "Yeah. I think so." Maybe probably was in there but it was lost in the food somewhere. He chuckled a bit at that. "I noticed Andrea-san." She sighed again and said, "Please. Just call me Andrea. Never really been into formal and all that. I prefer a laid back kind of style." She told the dark man as she took a sip of the tea. When the introductions first began he immediately figured out that the name she was using wasn't her name and she didn't see the point in lying about it so told him everything up front. _'But however you see it, that's very indecent_ etiquette.' The poison man thought to himself as he watched Toriko eat. "Hey Coco. (Wow this is good stuff!) did you think I would come (oh fluffy boor meat) to see you just to tell you that?" Toriko asked between mouthfuls of food. "Toriko can you talk AFTER you finish eating?!" The girl said sharply to him. Really now! There's only so much impoliteness that can be allowed! Bad enough he was eating the poor man out of house and home and making a mess, now he's topping it off by speaking between mouthfuls! She may not be the world's most graceful person but she at least HAS manners. The dark man calmly took a sip of his drink as he asked, "Here to request assistance? Is it about the puffer whale after all?" "Yep! That's it!" The hunter said simply as he continued to eat. "If its not too much trouble." Andrea said, feeling kinda embarrassed. Really now! He couldn't of asked if Coco wanted to help or something? "Coco-san..are you... are you able to remove the poison sac in the puffer whale?" Komatsu asked. At least he was behaving himself unlike the giant hunter. She thought for sure he'd be going ga-ga over Coco.

Suddenly she noticed that around the upper part of Coco's face turned a dark purple color. Eh? What was that about? Komatsu stared a bit as Coco quickly covered that part of his face and said, "Ah..oops. Forgive me. Komatsu-kun you were a chef at Hotel Gourmet right? Can you handle the puffer fish?" That seemed to snap him out of whatever he was in. "Oh... well yes, I have once." "Puffer whales are also called Daphnia whales and as the name suggests, their size is as small as a normal fish. And because of that there are a lot of cooks who handle them in the same way as a puffer fish. So whenever puffer whales come out into the market every 16 years, about 100,000 people die of food poisoning." Coco told him. She blinked at that. "Say wha?! That's totally unheard of back home! The most I've ever heard was poisoning! Not sure if anyone died from that though.." The girl said, thinking back if she heard anything like that happening. "Its something kinda common on our side Andrea. That's the risk people take when wanting to try new food. No need to freak over it." Toriko said as he took a drink. Easy for him to say! "The poison puffer whales have a lethal does of .2mg nerve poison." The dark man continued. Think some of the animals back home have something similar give or take. "Its one of the most poisonous even in nature. And once the poison sac erupts and the contents leak, not one bit of the whale can be eaten. Well, there are still people who would be.." Coco shrugged at the last part indifferently. "There's some people like that back at home." '_Although if memory serves there was a tv show that showed the strange things people would eat but there's no way I'm gonna tell them that._' She thought privately to herself as she watched the men talk.

"I will tell you this. The probability of capturing them without breaking the poison sack for me is about half. 1 in 2 will turn poisonous. And the portability to remove the sack without breaking is 1/5. Have you mistaken who to make your request to?" Coco asked. "You're good enough." Toriko said with a care free smile. She bite a smile back. Why is this man always so laid back? "The probability of me succeeding for me is none! There isn't a single way for me to capture that delicious thing and cook it!" He had a good point. If he trusts this man to know what he was doing then capturing and what not should be easy right? "There is some more bad news. The beach in a cave, which has been the egg-laying spot for the whales recently, is a cave tens of kms long, and 800m deep. The probability of one reaching the destination and back is .1%!" And she spoke too soon. Of course nothing can be that easy although at the moment she's kinda glad she wasn't too good with meters and such otherwise she'd be panicking right now. Maybe the sea way is better? That thought was dashed when the hunter said, "Its alright! Better than diving from the sea side!" "There's more." More?! How much more depressing can the news get? Actually, how about she just keeps quiet about that? Every time she wonders how easy or worse it can get it gets worse. "The beast of hell. Devil Serpent. It is said that it was strong enough to match up with the legendary Battle Wolf. That monster is now inside the cave. God only knows what else." "If he says one more depressing thing I'm gonna chuck something at him." She mumbled to herself as she finished her tea. Whatever was in it seemed to make her feel better. At least she wasn't freaking out like she did when she arrived. Toriko burst out laughing. "From that snake's point of view, you're more dangerous!" Eh? What did he mean by that? Something's up. Must have something to do when that purplish color appeared on his face. "Toriko.." Coco went before Toriko said, "All right I got it. I understand that its pretty dangerous. But other then that, " Toriko got this cocky smirk as his face as he finished saying, "can you see the death sign on either me, Komatsu or Andrea?" Coco got this weird shocked look on his face before looking at them then looking down, almost as if in defeat. (which he probably was, poor guy) "I got it. I will come along." Coco coincided, crossing his arms over his chest.

Toriko clenched his fist in excitement. "Yes! That's my Coco! As expected from a bishokuya! The reward is to eat whatever you want in the restaurant of Hotel Gourmet! How bout it?" The hunter said happily. "No way! How did my restaurant come in here?!" Komatsu asked in a panic. She stifled a laugh. These guys will never be boring. '_How long since I last worked as a bishokuya?_' Coco wondered to himself as he watched as the two fought good naturedly as the girl watched on with a smile. But anyway, the death sign hm? He didn't see one on Toriko but the other two... Damn. Komatsu had one clearly but not as bad as the girl. With such a clear death sign how she still alive? Or is she slowly dying? Damn. He could see the signs so clearly.


	6. Puffer Fish Part 1

**_'Puffer whales. The phantom whale, usually referred as the delicacy of the deep ocean while maturing (3-4 years), it stays in the shallow ocean until it matures and can dive deeper. Having both lungs and gills, puffer whales can grow up to 6 meters long but when diving to the deeper ocean the lungs are crushed by the water pressure and the body will be compressed to 30-40cm. By this the taste will be condensed and the supreme taste is born. However, at the same time, the huge amount of waste is also condensed, forming what we call the sac. The back fin of a puffer whale can be boiled into a soup which if you boiled every day to make different soup it can last up to three years while the body has the pink meat which is as moisten as rice cakes. The skin if dried the freshness will not drop for a century. The poison sack, once broken, every bit of the whale becomes poisonous. Whoever eats it will die in under a half an hour. Also, because the position of the sac is different for each whale, there are only 10 people in the world who can remove it without breaking it. Because of the 8 Gourmet Laws set by IGO, poisonous puffer whales are forbidden to be traded for the reason that the taste won't change even if its become poisonous. There are numerous poisoned puffer whales on the black market. For the reason "I want to taste it even at the cost of my life". 100,000 people have died because of it. Tongue: a high concentration of fat. When heated it turns to oil which can used over and over again without ever getting old. Organs: nourish the body. If its eaten raw a person can work for 10 days without sleep. Capture level 29 only cause of the poison, regards without the poison capture is_ 1.'_  
_**The voice informed her yet again. Like she even cares about that crap although the 10 days working without losing energy sounded fun but she didn't think it was healthy to stay up 2 days without sleep. The group left Coco's house right after Toriko finished eating him out of house and home. "Just as I thought I could get some more food to replenish since you finished all the food up at my house now you decided to come along as well. You are just as impatient as before." Coco told the hunter as the group walked towards the cave. The terrain was pretty nice except with all the stone pillars and rocks everywhere but no matter. At least she's OFF that pillar.

She watched as Toriko smoked that cigar bark again. Just how many did that man have? Half the time she missed how he finished the previous ones off. Or is he just reusing the same one over and over again? Makes sense. "The day you thought of it is the lucky day. All days after are unlucky days." The giant man told him as they continued to walk. That made no sense what-so-ever but whatever. "In the world of fortunetelling, the timing and the season you make your move is important." Coco coolly told him. "What if the best timing is 1000 years later? Are you going to give up?" Toriko asked him, smugly. She had to admit he had a point. If what Coco was saying was true timing was everything but if the timing would be wrong wouldn't it be easier to make a move by then? "By..by the way, what do you think is going to happen according to you, Coco-san?" Komatsu asked, trying to break the tension that was forming. Coco looked back and gave him a really weird look. '_Eh..? What's with this face?' _Komatsu wondered as the girl asked in concern. "Are you alright Coco-san? What's wrong?" "..Nothing." He told her as they continued to walk away. Was it her imagination or did that look he gave the chef seem kinda sad? Was something going to happen? Argh! She hated not knowing anything! Looking ahead she noticed that a cave was starting to appear in the distance. Finally! Any more walking and her feet would be screaming mercy! She wasn't used to walking in this kind of terrain! As the group approached the cave she noticed three figures running from it. _'Hm? Isn't that the Zonge guy from before?' _Andrea wondered as the trio rushed up to them. Toriko noticed them and said, "Oooh! You were San Geria-kun!" That wasn't even close to his name fool! Although she wasn't one to talk; remembering people's names wasn't her forte.

"Who the heck is San Geria?!" The crude man yelled as she politely said, "Hey Zonge-kun. Any luck with getting the puffer fish?" He grinned cockily at her, "Hehehe. It was right in front of my eyes!" She glanced behind him and unless she missed her guess, judging from the looks of his followers they never even saw the fish. She had the feeling he didn't get past the entrance. Ah well. The girl wasn't in the mood to call him on it as he continued, "If I just caught them now it wouldn't be any fun right? I'm the type that stops playing in a RPG game when facing the last boss, ya know?" "But beating the last boss is always fun though." She said without thinking, which earned her looks from the men. "W...wha? I like to RPG when I get the chance!" She said defensively. Long as she played in easy mode she'd usually win and once in a while medium but they don't need to know that. "Hmm. Is that right?" Toriko said to him as he continued to smoke. Noticing that Coco was looking behind them she glanced back and saw a bunch of different men laying around. Shit. Doesn't take a genius to figure out what they were and what they were here for. Bandits and most likely will attack and kill whoever came out of the cave with the whales. She hoped the boys were up to the challenge. Coco said nothing even though he saw that all of the bandits and assassins had death omens over them. '_I don't think it would be Toriko or me. Rather someone's who already in the cave._' The dark man thought to himself. "Aaalright! Let's go! Here we go, Coco, Komatsu and Andrea!" The giant hunter said happily as they walked towards the cave. Aanndd the fool forgot to use her other name. She sighed deeply as she followed. At least the other people were out of ear shot.

**Zonge's View of things**

"They..they didn't even take weapons with them." Said the bald man as the trio watched the 3 men and woman go into the cave. Placing his hands on hips Zonge said, "Hmph. Amateurs trying to be bishokuya! They'll learn soon enough!" "But Zonge...the girl with them... isn't that the one we were ordered to find?" Asked the other man with hair. "Ack! That's right! Crap! We can't go back after them to get her!" He said, starting to freak out a bit. Oh man! If the boss finds out that they let the woman slip their hands its their asses! "We can leave her protection to the amateurs at the moment!" Zonge quickly decided as he headed out. "Eh?! Are you insane?!" "Oi!" He growled at the other two men. "We gotta inform the boss we found the girl! She's safe and alive! Lets head out men!" '_Safe and alive for the moment. If you noticed it was her on the train we wouldn't be here.'_ The other two men thought as they followed their leader. Ah well. She should be fine right? They should at least inform the boss and find out who she's with.

**Andrea's view of things**

Wooow. This cave was bigger then she expected it to be. "Hey take out the lights you two. You won't be able to see anything soon because of the darkness." Coco told them as they continued further into the cave. "Right." The two replied as they reached into their back packs and took out some lights. A flash helmet hm? How fashionable. She mused to herself as she put it on but it wouldn't fit right. "Ngh.. Stupid pony tail." She mumbled as she redid her hair down lower and the helmet fitted properly. "Don't ever get away from us okay, Komatsu-kun and Andrea-chan?" "Just call me Andrea please." She once again told him. Much as she liked the honorifics she didn't feel comfortable with being called that. Especially when it sounded so cute. Andrea heard him chuckle. "As you wish." She narrowed her eyes a bit. Ai, ai, ai. Just like the other one hm? _'The darkness may be a good thing. Humans acquire most of the information from their eyes. If in the darkness with less information, perhaps Komatsu-kun and Andrea will come with a little more caution.'_ The poison man thought to himself as he suddenly heard Komatsu shout, "Ahh! There's bokiboki mushrooms here!" "What?! You serious?!" Toriko shouted as he rushed over. '_He's already acting on his own! Not at all cautious! Hm?_' Coco thought as he suddenly noticed the girl right behind him. "Not going to look at the mushrooms. Or eat it I should say." The man asked her. She shook her head. "I'm not a big mushroom fan." She glanced over to where the others were and laughed softly, causing him to blush. "Wish I had that kind of enthusiasm." "Oh?" He asked, slightly curious. Andrea nodded. "Back home, none of the food was this good." That surprised him. "Oh really? What is it like?" "Chemicals." She said simply. Now what could she mean by that? Looking over at Komatsu and Toriko he thought with a nervous look, '_Komatsu-kun can you please be a little nervous. Please do._' "Now tell me. ARE you alright?" The girl asked as she looked right up at him. Looking away with a slight blush he nodded. "I'm fine." "Sure? You gave a weird look back there." "It was nothing." Again with the dodging. Fine then. He can keep his secrets.

When the others finally got the mushrooms the group walked further into the cave and came a split in the cave. "There's two ways to go! Which way should we take?" Komatsu asked. Don't look at her. This is new territory to her. She watched as Coco looked at Toriko, who was eating yet again, asked, "How's it Toriko?" After finishing a bite he replied, "I smell dead meat coming from both holes but there's the distinct smell of millipede in the right one so there's probably a nest of giant millipedes. I can smell a bit of ocean breath from the left. We're going left!" Joy. She could of done without the knowledge of giant millipedes. What else is in here that she doesn't want to know? As the group continued to walk further and further into the cave it got cold and dark really fast. "Its quite slippery here. Be careful when you step on it, Komatsu-kun and Andrea." Coco called back from up head. "Y..yes." "Got it." The two went as they followed the hunters deeper into the cave. The flashlight didn't shine too far so how was Coco seeing and walking so clearly? Does he have eyes like Riddick or something? "Coco-san doesn't even have flashlights. How can he be moving so fast in the dark?" Komastsu spoke the question that was on her mind. "Coco has good eyes. Not his eyesight but...well his eyesight isn't normal either but.." Toriko started as they continued walking. "As if you should saying that. Not like your normal either." She muttered to herself. Unbeknown to her the hunters caught it and tried not to laugh as Toriko continued his explanation. "Coco can see beyond the visible light waves, as much as electro magnetic waves. The number of one cell and sight cells are so numerous he can see ultra-violet and infra-red. For Coco, this dark might as well be as bright as noon outside." So meaning he can see in the dark? Sweet! **_'By the way, Coco uses his sight to catch the weak electromagnetic waves produced by human bodies and predicts one's near future by the strength, amount and shape. This ability applies towards animals and maters (non organic) as well. Watch your footing there_**_** girl!**'_ Suddenly she lost her footing and slipped, landing right on her knee while using her hands to catch herself. "Ouch!" She cried out. Damn. Think the fall cut up her knee. "Andrea?! Are you alright?!" The boys quickly asked as Toriko turned around to check on her. She chuckled lightly. "I'm fine. Just a little slip. Nothing too bad." Toriko offered her his hand which she accepted gratefully.

"Thanks." She told him when he suddenly bent down and yanked her pant leg up. She felt the blood rush to her cheeks and yelled, "What are you doing?! You can't just grab someone's.." But he cut her off. "The cut's not that deep. The bleeding should stop soon but still. You better keep an eye on it." Was all he said before standing up right and gave her a grin. "Other than that you'll live!" Andrea rolled her eyes. "No kidding. At least the pants took most of the dirt at least." "If everyone is alright we should get moving." "Right!" She called after Coco, who started to move again. _'The cut itself isn't bad but the scent of blood will get the animals here in a frenzy.' _Toriko mused as he watched the girl follow the others. He quickly caught up with them in a split second. Suddenly Coco stopped walking. "What's wrong, Coco?" The hunter asked as he came up by him. The other man held up a hand. "Wait. Stop walking." She stayed behind the two. If there's something up ahead they can deal with it. She mused when Komatsu, who didn't hear what was said, asked, "Is anything. wroonng?!" He suddenly slipped on the rocks and was falling until Toriko easily caught him with one hand. "What are you doing by yourself?" Toriko asked with a annoyed expression. She smacked him upside the head which earned her a "Ow! Hey what was that for?!" so she said, "Pull him up and asked questions later fool! Or do you want poor Komatsu falling down?!" "Th..thank you very much Toriko-san!" A weird noise slowly started to fill the room. What was that scraping sound? Most likely something NOT good. She looked down at the same time as Komatsu which lit up the ground under neath him more clearly and gawked. "Are those giant scorpions down there?!" She practically shouted as Toriko went, "Scorpion cockroach! So this is the toxic cockroach's nest!" Cockroaches?! Last time she checked NO cockroach EVER looked THAT beefed up and ready to kill! A scream was heard from somewhere on top and looked up to see a man falling into that nest. "A bishoukya?" Coco asked, panicking ever so slightly. "No good. He's falling to the nest." Toriko said as he pulled the chef up. A split second later a man came falling from somewhere. The song it's raining men flashed through her head a second before she squashed it flat. Not very appropriate at the moment. (even though it fit quite well)

Before she could even say anything the poor man was quickly surrounded and eaten by the animals down below. "Well that's it for me I'll see you back at the entrance." She told them as she was about to leave. "Not happening missy. Your staying RIGHT here." Toriko said as he quickly grabbed the back of her shirt and gently yanked her back. "Ok then. Know this: Should I die at ANY point from now on I will PERSONALLY come back JUST to haunt your sorry ass until the day you die!" She told him before he quickly stifled his laughter. "T...that wasn't very funny Andrea." Komatsu told her as she turned to look at him. "Who said I was kidding?" The men looked at her before realizing she WAS indeed serious. She would totally do it. Turning to Coco Toriko said, "The problem is, we have to go through here. Coco..." Sighing deeply Coco replied, "I got it." She watched as he undid the wrappings around his neck. What was he going to do? "I will go down first. Follow me." "Please wa.. what do you mean you'll go down first?" The chef asked as the color from before suddenly started to spread from the neck and moved up as he took off his turban. "What is going on?! Coco?! Are you insane?!" Andrea asked when he suddenly jumped off from the ledge and into the nest. "Coco-san!" Komatsu called after him. She blinked in amazement as the cockroaches all rushed to get away from him. '_How is that possible? And what is with the skin change?'_ She wondered as Toriko went, "Hmph. These cockroaches with their highly toxic poison can also detect the danger. The danger from Coco's poison!" EHHH?! That weird coloring is poison?! No way! And for some reason why does he seem even hotter with that coloring? Ack. Head out of the clouds girl. Not the time nor place to be checking someone out. Sides, Toriko had a nicer body and why the hell did she just think that?! Ok! Snap out of it Andrea! Now's NOT the time! Seriously! "Lets go you two! We're going to follow Coco!" With that said he easily picked her and the chef up and jumped down. "You suck Toriko!" She growled as she clung to him, not knowing she was pushing up against him. He chucked a bit. "Your just fine aren't you?" She glared at him which made him only laugh out loud. "Come along now." He said as he started to follow the poison man. Unbelievable! Totally unbelievable! But not as unbelievable as the cockroaches making a path for them to go threw. Impressive. Very impressive but she looked up at the figure ahead of them. Why was she getting the impression that she was looking at a very lonely back?

Once through the nest Coco closed his eyes, appearing to be concentrating, and the poison was slowly being pulled back down with him slightly opening the bandage at his neck. Was there some sort of meaning to it? Or did it just help him pull the poison from being out? "Sorry for scaring you Komatsu-kun and Andrea. Your safe now." "Eh? "Scared of what?" She asked, tilting her head slightly in confusion. '_Cute!_' all the men thought at the same time before Komatsu asked, "What...do you mean by poison? Who are you Coco-san?" "Coco has poison inside his body." Toriko stated. "That's quite obvious Toriko but what Komatsu is asking HOW come he can do what he did. Which in my opinion is awesome!" Toriko merely shrugged as he took a seat nearby. "Most of us bishokuyas can make immunity artificially against poisonous living things. By injecting a tiny portion of poisons from poisonous snakes, insects...or plants of nature regularly over a long period of time. We can make antibodies artificially." "I've heard of that but it isn't very common where I'm from. Far as I know there's only one man who has many different antibodies due to him being bitten so many times by many different kinds of poisonous snakes." "That's interesting. Wonder what he does for a living?" Coco mused as Toriko said to them, "I was bitten by zombie paitans before, remember that?" So he has them too eh? Stupid question, of course he does given his line of work. "However,it is said in nature that there are hundreds of thousands kinds of poisons. It is quite impossible to make antibodies for them all. Even I have only about 70. The amount of antibodies Coco has is 500! It is even abnormal in the bishokuta!" "Again with the abnormal thing. Far as I'm concerned, no one here is even REMOTELY normal. Not even Komatsu." "Eh?! What does that mean?!" The chef asked clearly in confusion. The hunter chuckled. "Your going by your world's definition of normal." He started before she cut him off, "Not really. Even by my world's standards I'm not normal. Works for me. Normal is totally boring anyway." She said the last part with a grin. "But...5..5 hundred.." Komatsu said in clear astonishment. "By chance, my body endure more poison then most people. But because I injected far too much poison, they began to mix with each other and a new kind of poison was produced in me." Coco explained, before getting a somewhat pained look on his face as he continued, "I am now a "poisonous human". Fufufu. My identity is just an undignified extremist but there aren't many beasts who dares to attack me... the cockroaches too.."

Ah. That explains what happened back in town. The animal must of sensed the danger and decided to take off before something happened. "Now then, lets go." He said as he started to walk off. "Coco-san..he seemed kinda of sad..." "Does he have a lot of bad memories?" The girl asked. Rightfully so due to the nature of his body. Poor Coco. "Once, a lot of scientists and medics of IGO chased him around in order to produce perfect serum from his blood." "Say what?! What was wrong with them?! How could they do that to a person?!" She said, feeling angry on Coco's behalf. Honestly! Just to get a perfect serum they'd sacrifice someone's body?! To hell with that! "He was also about to be isolated as a first class dangerous being. He has a lot of bad memories. Probably why he got out of the bishokueya business because he wanted to get away from all that." "I don't blame him one bit! If I ever see one of those FOOLS they'll get a first class taste of my taser." "R..right. Actually that's not a bad idea." Toriko said with a thinking look. "Eh? Really?" She went before he said, "One shock from that they'll be running from you!" "Hmmm...people running from me...I like the sound of that." She mused out loud. "But! To have the beasts avoid you! That's the best thing I can ever hope for!" Now then she thinks on it the little guy had a point too. "If it came down it I'd rather go with your idea Komatsu. Fun as it is to watch people freak out I'd rather have the beasts I can't handle run away. That way there's no chance of getting eaten!" "Right! I can even go to dangerous areas as much as I want!" He agreed. Toriko laughed a bit. "That's true." After that it was mostly silence as the group continued down the dark cave. Thank goodness she had the flashlight or else she'd be in deep trouble! Her knee hurt a bit but nothing that she couldn't live with. After traveling a while she noticed that the cavern seemed to be getting steeper. Makes sense cause the cave is down somewhere around here? Going down is good at the moment and when heading out up is good. Why did that sound so lame? "Its getting quite steep." Toriko commented as the group halted a bit as the men looked around. Or at least Coco looked around. "Yeah. There's a huge hole about 100 meters right below here."

And of course. More heights! Just what she asked for! NOT! Standing as far away as she could she watched as Komatsu walked over and peered down into it, face going pale a bit. "Are we...going to go down there?" "Shall we go with abseiling? Is the rope long enough? Komatsu, Andrea. You should cling to one of us." "Argh! I knew it!" She groaned out loud. This trip is the worst! As the boys started to set things up Komatsu made the comment of, "Are we gonna be ok with a rope this thin?" She eyed the rope warily. It DID seem to be awfully thin for a climb and with such weight being put on them. Ooook. Must stop that train of thought. Must stop that train of thought. "Don't underestimate these carbon fiber ropes! It won't even snap if there's a hundred people on it!" "I'll...I'll descend with you Coco-san!" Komatsu said as he turned and suddenly jumped onto the dark man's back. "Whoa! Wait a sec Komatsu! I have poi.." But the little chef cut him off by saying, "Poison? No fish lives in clear water right? People are more likeable when they poison! Come on! Let's go!" She giggled at the two of them before walking over. "Andrea?" Coco went. "Just give it up Coco-san. He's already made up his mind to go with you. So might as well go with it ya know!" She told him with a grin. Seeing him still hesitate she motioned with her finger to lean down. "Eh? What is it?" Was all he had a chance to say before she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "EH?!" The poor man went in surprise while the other two just gawked at them in disbelief. "Wh..what was that for?" The poison man asked, face turning a cute shade of red. She giggled a bit before saying, "A charm. Have fun going down you two!" The girl said as she rushed over to Toriko, who had been waiting for her. "Took you long enough! Let's get going!" "Right!" She said as she yet again got onto his back. '_Looks like those two not afraid of me at all...no.. this is Komatsu-kun's pure kindness._' Coco blushed a bit at the memory of the girl's kiss even though it was harmless enough. _'She's trying to be cheer me on in her own way...really these two... their trying to comfort me... Komatsu-kun...Andrea__..If possible, I will not let you die.'_

**Toriko's view of things  
**

This probably wasn't the best of ideas, having her on his back again. The two continued to climb down the ropes. Every so often a breeze would come up from below, blowing her soft gentle scent towards his nose. As if he wasn't aware of her already! The way she was clinging to him was driving him a little bit crazy, the way she was pressing against his back wasn't helping his cause. It wasn't so bad before because Komatsu was with her but her alone! Agh. "Ah! Look there Coco-san! There are fireflies!" He heard the chef say to the dark man. Looking over his shoulder he saw that the bugs were flying gracefully around in the dark, like hanging lanterns in the night. "Ah, they are the sea firefly. They probably got here from the beach." Coco replied. "Their beautiful.." The girl said in wonder. He could feel her looking around and chuckled silently to himself. She was enjoying herself when she wasn't panicking or something. Although he shouldn't complain about that. She's been handling herself quite well. Guess she was trying not to be a burden which is ridiculous cause she's not. Suddenly the scent of some kind of animal reached his nose. Smiling to himself when he realized food was coming his way. Finally! He was getting hungry!

**Andrea's view of things**

She was just in awe as the fireflies flew in lazy paths. It was probably one of the most beautiful sights she has ever seen since coming here. A scream suddenly came from somewhere down below. "What the heck was that?" She asked as the chef went, "That voice just now.." Komatsu asked. "Its the screams from the other Bishokuyas.." "Hope their ok.." She muttered as she held him onto him tighter. Crunch crunch. What the? What was that? Suddenly it dawned on her. "Toriko what are you eating?" "Toriko! There are swallow tail bats! We'll descend right away!" Coco called over to them. "Ah. I just caught oneright now." "Who in the world catches an animal with their teeth?!" The girl exclaimed. "Wha? I was hungry!" He retorted back. "Ah! He's eating it!" Komarsu shouted in surprise. "Better hang tight kid!" was the only warning she got before he suddenly just slid down the rope. "Kyaaaa!" She yelped as she held on for dear life. If she ever makes it threw this she will most DEFINITELY kill him when this is over. "Land!" She cried happily once they landed on the ground. Getting off him quick she went practically hugged the ground as the chef wandered over to ask, "Are you alright?" She could only nod as she glanced up to see a horde of the ugliest bats she has ever seen. Really should of stayed at the entrance... "Whooooooaaa!" Komatsu went as the hunter went hmph before saying, "That's a good attitude bats!" Must be for him cause he seems to have gone into some sort of hunting mode.

She watched as the hunter clasped his hands together. "Thanks for the meal" As soon Toriko said that he ACTUALLY began eating the bats as they flew towards the group. That...was beyond what words could describe. She felt her eyebrow twitch as she watched. Is this man for real? He used the fork and knife attack on some as he continued to eat them raw. "He ate them all! Can they even be eaten raw?" "Guess so Komstsu." The girl told him as she watch the poison man remove a wristband off while raising his arm out and appeared to be concentrating. As he did so the hand with the wristband turned the poison color again. From what she could see it appeared the very tips of his fingers had droplets of poison dripping out from them. "Poison dressing." Coco said as poison dops suddenly were shot at the bats, making them fall instantly. Whoa. Without warning she was suddenly grabbed from behind with a hand covering her mouth as whoever had her carried her off. She tried to squirm but the grip was like a vice. The hell?! She could hear the others calling for her and Komatsu back there! Argh! Leave it to men to not pay attention! Wait better scratch that cause she wasn't either cause if she was she wouldn't be manhandled like this and with the way her arms are pinned the taser was out of the question. "Quit squirming you! We need you alive" "Not so much noise! We don't want to draw more attention to ourselves." His partner said as he tighten his grip on the chef. Komatsu! Those bastards! If he so much has ONE bruise she'll gut them and leave them to eat mauled! The one holding her chuckled. "It was a great idea to use these fools as food for the Devil Serpent!" Oh hell no! Like hell she's gonna let them do that!

**Toriko's and Coco's view of things**

Talk from bad to worse. Not only have the others vanish but the devil serpent appeared! Its body was huge, practically filling up the cavern the men were currently in and it even wasn't fully in yet! On it's head was a mane of a lion's, three eyes placed in a triangle formation, the jaws were huge! The serpent gave a huge eerie roar. Ho..how can that thing give off such a sound? The hunters watched as the animal suddenly brought in its legs. Suddenly their instincts were the only warning when animal's arm shot out from the dark towards the men. "!" Toriko went as the claw grabbed him and rushed him back to pin him to the cave wall. "Toriko!" The poison man shoutedas he watched the larger man pinned to the wall, the force of the hit forced him to cough up blood. A gurgling sound caught Coco's attention and turned his attention long enough to see the beast getting ready to spew out something. He had just enough time to dodge the on coming attack. "Wow!" Coco said in surprise, watching the attack spew by him. The poison man looked over and heard hissing sounds as the ground seemed to dissolve. '_He...he spit out his own digestive acids!_' Coco thought in shock. Meanwhile Toriko continued to struggle to get out of its grip. What an amazing power he wondered when suddenly he felt the beast turn in his direction. "What?" The poison man said aloud as he watched the beast prepare its attack. Is he planning to put that stuff even on his own arm? "Toriko!" He shouted rushed over.

The giant hunter growled loudly as he increased the strength in his arm muscles, causing the shirt to rip while he said, "Don't you get cocky!" It took every effort he had to get that clawed hand off of him. "This is what you get, you snake king!" Toriko told the beast as he got his knife ready. "Knife!" He shouted as he cut off the leg that held him down. Within seconds the snake quickly regenerated a second leg in the old one's place. " The hell?!" The men shouted in surprise right as the newly sprouted leg rushed the blue hair hunter into the wall yet again. Coco could only watch as his friend was smashed into the wall. He can regenerate like a newt, huh? This guy's speed of regeneration was unbelievable! Suddenly a roar was heard from behind him. Toriko had a look oh unholy glee on his face, which turned slightly demonic in his excitement. "Hey, snake king!" The man shouted, "Want me to eat you, huh?!" The poison man made no comment as he continued to watch. Toriko undoubtedly has the disadvantage of being in the dark since he relies on smell. He mused to himself as he thought, '_And the serpent probably has the pit organ. A sensor that captures body heat and therefore enabling snakes to pinpoint their prey in the dark. The devil serpent can capture .0001 degrees of heat accurately.' _

He then began taking off his wraps. '_I guess I should be the one to fight here! Since I have no disadvantage visually!' _To Toriko he said, "Toriko! You know where Komatsu and Andrea is right?" "Hm? Yeah, if I followed their scent.." The man replied as he watched him take the rest of the wrappings off. "I will take him down. When I do, get to Komatsu and the girl." "Nonsense!" The hunter said, putting a hand on his hip as he held the other one out. "Eh?" "I didn't force those two to come. They came here on their own! They understand that this is part of the dangerous districts, and they probably thought the worst. Well, Komatsu anyway." "Toriko,Komatsu-kun and Andrea-chan..." "Ah? Can you see the death sign on them? Don't worry, he leaves a will every time he comes with me and Andrea isn't the type to roll over." Coco blinked a bit at that. "A will.. You mean.." He started before the other man cut him off. "But rather than that, how's that?" ToRico asked, looking in the serpent's direction. "Can you see death about that king snake over there?"The poison man looked at the snake a bit before answering, "...No." Smirking a bit the other hunter went, "See?" The cocky smirk growing wider. "That mean you can't take him on your own. We will take him down together!"

**Andrea's view of things**

"Both of them are the four kings...Coco and Toriko! With those two they could probably hang on for a while!" The scruffy looking man told his partner. "Got that right! We can take another route and get on the beach from there!" His stupid partner agreed. Argh! The moment she gets free she is going to DROP kick his ass SO hard his GRANDCHILDREN will feel it! To them one of them said, "Brats! We'll have you get the attentions of the monsters as sacrifices!" "Well, the boy at least. If we don't need to I'd rather keep the woman to play with!" Said the other as his arm moved to feel her chest a bit. Tch! No matter which world she's in, there will always be useless pieces of trash! Well, on the bright side their in for a NASTY surprise! "We shall see, my friend, we shall see. If that happens we can just flip to see who goes first!" She growled at that. Bah! Even if she doesn't have that much in the way of strength there's no way in hell she was gonna let either disgusting men touch her in ANY shape or form! She'd die first before that happen! (Hopefully not cause getting eaten by an animal or getting killed by one of these useless wonders didn't hold any appeal to her)

**Toriko's and Coco's view of things**

"We'll fight togther in this! I won't hold you back, Coco!" Toriko said as the men got ready to fight the beast. "I know that." The poison man said as his poison finished coming out. At the same time they unleashed their intimidations. Toriko's, of course, was the hanyuu, Coco's intimidation was the traditional Japanese ghost. Pale skin, holes for eyes, nose and mouth, long black hair. The beast, in return, only roared at them, uncaring about the intimidation. "Neither my intimidation nor Coco's poison scare you huh. How long as it been since I had a real fight?" In response the beast sucked in its limbs and stretched them out for an attack. Rushing forward Toriko got ready as he said, "I will cut you in half! Eat this!" The hunter started to use knife on the animal's body and all he got for his trouble was a cut in his hand. "Wha?! He's really hard!" "He hardened the endurance of his skin by contracting his flexible skin to its limit!" Coco explained, forming a plan already. "He's probably figured out how your knife works!"

Using its stretched limbs it proceeded to attack the giant hunter who barely dodged in time. Meanwhile the poison man held one arm and was concentrating his poison into that arm. After a few, a membrane of poison surrounded the arm and hand. "Poison cannon!" He shouted as he shot the membrane like a cannon ball towards the devil serpent. After the cannon hit it, it lifted a few strands of its hair and shot out a liquid towards Coco. He quickly did a back flip and landed by the other man. "I'm surprised. He spit out poison from his hair." Wiping his cheek a bit the giant hunter said, "I really can't see well in this darkness. Can you stop his movements, Coco? If you can seal his movements then..." Clenching a fist he finished with a cocky smirk, "It doesn't matter how hard his skin is..I will break it's innermost organ With my five consecutive nail punches! "I got it...my poison and it's poison. Let's see which one is more toxic!" Coco said. Giving a roar Toriko started the process of powering up his arm, which already began to double in size.

"Nail punch...didn't expect you could go up to five hits." The dark man commented as he watched. "The drawback is I do need some time to gather my strength and my muscles get sore after I get them off." The dark man chuckled a bit. "I see you haven't been just devoting yourself to the gourmet line of work. As expected of your aiming for that ingredient for your main dish, Toriko." Coco said as the other man replied back, "What about you? Hasn't your poison's strength weakened after not using it for long?" The dark man went hmph and said, "If you have time to worry about me then concentrate on properly gathering your strength!" He quickly charged forward towards the devil serpent and easily leapt into the air. '_The weak point of my venom is speed! It'll be evaded with high probability by the devil serpent. First, I'll dull its reaction to the venom by sealing this thing's pit organs.' _He's gotta first set on breaking the opponent's radar function. A snake, which doesn't have eyes or nose, but the pit organ sealed up by tape or the like, is said to be unable to capture its prey for a while. Using his excellent eye sight he quickly found three pit organs on the devil serpent, which were located just above its nose. In order to shoot a miniscule amount that can avoid detection he'll reduce the poison's exit to its limits. To get an even better shot he'll add some spinning movements to it as well. Holding out three fingers he called out, "Poison rifle!" and with what seemed like perfect he nailed the animal's sense before it had time to stop the attack. The moment the poison hit the pit organ the animal quickly became confused and disorientated, quickly looking this way and that.

Good! Since its a minute amount, the poison will take some time before it can take full effect and with the adhesive poison the dark man completely sealed up its pit organs. "It can't see me right now!" Coco yelled out as he clenched his fist and brought the poison membrane from before. "Eat this!" From out of nowhere the beast shot its arm out and grabbed him just before he could deliver his attack. "What?!" The dark man shouted in surprise. Quickly taking another look at the serpent he noticed that it was opening and closing the ones he didn't know were there. The devil serpent began making gurgling sounds. Vomit again! "Poison membrane!" Coco shouted just as he quickly formed a membrane of poison surrounding his body just as the animal vomited on him. The thin membrane may have saved him from the beast's fluid but the cost was that it consumed a large amount of poison in his body at once. '_This is bad_' He thought as the flesh of the animal dissolved as the digestive fluids broke it down. '_My poison will run out before I get a shot on it!_' The dark man possesses poison glands in his entire body and since he directly transforms bodily fluids (blood, sweat, etc) into poison, he'll become anemic or dehydrated if its used excessively. The maximum production of poison is 15 liters, since his body weight is 100kg, it will 15% loss of body weight in fluids. In other words, if he keeps this up he will be either extremely anemic, dehydrated or dead so he better get his act together quick or else! "I can't help this distance! There's a good chance of it being dodged but! I'll shoot it in!" Coco said aloud as fired a poison cannon at the beast. It was an all or nothing shot! The beast dodged it with ease and sent its hair towards its capture, easily stabbing Coco with its needle like hairs and caused him to yell in pain.

Toriko heard and quickly looked in his direction. "Coco! This is bad! He's been nailed with the hair (poisonous needle)!" He said as he started to rush over to help his friend. "Don't come Toriko!" The man called over much to his shocked surprise. "Didn't I tell you to focus on gathering your strength?!" He continued. If he was telling the hunter not to come over then that meant.. "Coco...its poison antibodies... do you." Toriko started when the serpent sent more hair into the man's body, causing him to grunt in pain. "Coco!" Toriko said as he continued. "Nope. Don't have it.." He brought his intimidation out as he finished, "If I don't have the antibodies I'll just make them!" Coco grunted again as he felt sharp pain. This was a hemorrhagic toxin! Looking faintly ahead he saw some hallucinations which must be caused by bebufotenin. His body continued to decipher over a hundred different types of protein that were in the animal's toxin. Within moments he easily purified it on the spot, creating an immunity against further attacks of the poison. Just as he finished he noticed that the beast was no longer able to move and felt tremors go threw out its body. Finally! The poison he threw at it in the beginning was finally starting to take affect. Since he is able, when producing toxins in his body, to freely change the concentration or type of toxins. Such as the nerve toxin he shot at it was able to completely paralyze its body without any lethal side effects. Since his aim was to stop its movements he turned just in time to see Toriko finish powering up, which had caused his arm to completely quadruple its original size. "Ok Toriko." Coco said to him as the hunter replied, "Good work." As he got prepared to launch his attack on the subdued creature the dark man finally saw the shadow of death upon it at last. "5-hit nail punch!" Toriko shouted from next to him, unleashing his assault on the beast. Watching as the creature's body as it took the attack when it finally burst where the attack had landed on. Once that happen it let Coco go, making him fall to the ground which Toriko easily caught before impact with one hand due to his other arm smarting from using that attack. "So, you tired Coco?" Toriko asked as he looked down at the man. The poison man chuckled a bit and replied, "Yeah..the body does grow dull after only fortunetelling. I'm a bit exhausted." Truthfully he was quite tired but its not like that will stop him or anything. Toriko got an annoyed look on his face. "I wanted to eat that thing but your poison got in it." He said in annoyance. Smiling a bit Coco told him, "I lowered the strength of the poison, so if you heat it up over 300c my poison will decompose. Its for you Toriko, you know. If I had given it a lethal dose from the beginning the fight would of been easily decided." "Thank you Coco! I love that about you!" Toriko said in happiness. "Stop that, its gross." Coco told him. Bad enough he was holding him but to say such things when their in an awkward position was even worse.

**Andrea's view of things**

Oh man oh man. She could of done without seeing the Devil Serpent all together but with her and Komatsu's light shining upon it made it even worse. It suddenly felt like a horror movie with that going on. Where the hell are those two idiots?! If that glutton of a man was eating instead of coming to help them she was gonna drop kick him in the ball and THEN taser his sorry ass! "N..no way...no way!" Said the man holding her, shaking. Ugh. Even when shaking his grip was tremendous. "Why here too?!" The one holding the chef said. Poor Komatsu. Poor little guy looked like he was gonna have a heart attack. "Damn bastard!" The man shouted as he tossed Komatsu towards the beast. "There. food! Food, Devil Serpent!" Her eyes widen in shock and renewed her struggle. Damn him to hell and back! How dare he do that to poor Komatsu! Guess she had no choice but this one. Biting down hard on the one holding her, causing him to yell out in surprise and him to loosen his grip enough for her to slip free but not without giving him a hard undercut to the jaw. "Komatsu! Hang on! I'm coming!" She told him as she jumped off the ledge without thinking. (Truthfully she already noticed the drop but she can freak out later) "Damn bitch! Get back here!" He called after as his friend said, "Forget her! She's dinner now! We can make it while its eating them! C'mon!" "Tch!" His partner said as they quickly rushed towards where the beach was. In the space of 5 seconds and a couple of screams later the men were eaten by the time she reached the chef. "Are you alright Komatsu?!" Andrea asked as she quickly helped him up. "Y...yea but..." Komatsu started, shining his light all around to reveal some elephant looking animals with teeth. "This just keeps getting better and better." She groused aloud.


	7. Puffer Fish Part 2

**Coco's and Toriko's view of Things**

"Let's go, Toriko!" Coco told his companion, trying to hurry the giant up. Who knew what was happening with Komatsu and Andrea! He hoped they were alright. The poison man turned around and found Toriko carrying a huge chunk from the devil serpent. "The hell? Are you planning on carrying that thing around? We'll pass by that spot on the way back." The poison man told him as he watched Toriko carry the chunk. "But if it's eaten by other beasts wouldn't that be a shock?!" He relied, trying to reason with Coco who only sighed and told him, "It's alright it's got my poison. Never mind that we gotta hurry and find Komatsu-kun and Andrea! We have to find them quickly!" The hunter chuckled a bit and said, "Don't panic. I made sure to at least give them a secret weapon for when they got in a pinch."

**Andrea's view of things**

"Not to rush you or anything Komatsu but today would be nice!" Andrea muttered as the chef dug threw his bag as she watched the elephant things get closer. She thought back to the train when Toriko gave Komatsu the cracker.

**~flash back~**

"If by any chance you guys encounter a wild beast alone, use this. These were specially made by me, Toriko cracker!" The hunter said as he held up a bunch of bell looking fire crackers. The girl raised an eyebrow. "You named something after yourself?" He merely shrugged as the chef asked, "A cra...cracker you say? You mean that...that thing you pop at birthday party and stuff?" "Hey now don't make light of it. If you pop this in a residential area, firefighters and the police will show up in two minutes." "Toriko...that's not a popper that's a firework." He chuckled a bit before continuing on, "I've played with the type and amount of gunpowder. This produces an explosion that doesn't even compare to a firecracker you pop at a festival or something." The hunter handed the chef the crackers. "Whoa! Those are heavy!" Reaching over she picked one up and it was about as heavy as a 25 pound hand weight. "Jeesh Toriko! Can you make this thing any heavier?" She mused as the hunter said, "Listen! Including humans, all animals fear sound! That means sound is primitive phenomenon that living things are instinctively frightened by. At least, this will be more useful than some puny hunting gun they sell around." The girl shook her head a bit. Of course, leave it to this man to make it seem like their helpless without some kind of help. Even though its true it'll be a cold day in hell before she admits that aloud to him! Last thing she needs is to stoke his already huge ego!

**~End Flash~**

The chef was getting nervous by the minute as he continued to dig threw his bag. It wouldn't be so bad if they weren't surrounded by animals that were ready to eat them for dinner! "Hey Komatsu.." She said, really getting nervous. Andrea wondered if they could at least ATTEMPT to make a break for it when Komatsu said, "Got it! So you pull this wire!" "EH?! YOU FOUND IT?! THAT'S AWESOME!" The girl shouted in relief. Thank god! They weren't going to be on the menu tonight! She anxiously watched as the little man tried to pull on the string. "I'll help yo-" She started just as the animals were about to attack when all of a sudden a loud pop was heard and the next thing she saw was a huge bright light and a booming sound. Just as suddenly as that occurred she was suddenly surrounded by something, as if someone or something was shielding her from everything. The moment everything cleared up she cautiously peeked an eye that she didn't even know she shut open and much to her relief all the animals were gone but for some reason her companion was on the ground, bleeding from the ears. "Komatsu!" Andrea said, shakily trying to stand up when a roar was heard from somewhere over yonder and much to her horror the devil serpent was still around. "Shit! You've gotta be kidding me!" She yelled in anger. Damn! That cracker was suppose to scare everything away! She looked over at the chef with worry, the way her body was at the moment she wouldn't make it over to him in time. The girl didn't even take two steps before the beast looked her way. She froze in mid-step. Shit, shit and double shit! Gulping slightly as the creature came closer to her she thought, '_T..totally...unfair...I didn't get to do anything! I haven't even gone home yet!_' "I...I really don't want to die here! Not like this! I got so much left to say and do! Totally unfair!" She said aloud. Keep her eyes open or closed? Ah bloody hell. Close cause she REALLY didn't prefer to see those nasty jaws coming for her. Closing her eyes she began to make her preparations to make sure to haunt that idiotic man for not coming after them when suddenly a chill went down her spine when she suddenly sensed an ominous presence behind her. She thought her heart was going to stop when the presence suddenly got big and seemed to open its large jaws at the creature, who from the sound of it was scuttling away from her as fast as it could.

'_I...is this...intimidation?'_ The girl thought, doing her best not to show her fear. This wasn't Toriko's and it certainly did NOT feel like Coco and if its not either of them then who...? Without warning the presence vanished without a trace and she quickly drew a deep breath before sinking to the ground. "I think at least 20 years of my life was scared out of me." She muttered, trying to control her shaking. Even when facing the beast or seeing Toriko's demon whatever she never did feel like prey until that moment. She REALLY hoped she would never feel it again. Growling and shuffling was heard again and she turned just in time to see the serpent bending down to eat the chef. Shit! For sure that should of scared it away! Ugh! It did alright! Just to get it away from her! "Komatsu!" Andrea shouted, damn whatever! She couldn't move an inch cause all feeling was practically gone from her legs. NO! "*hic* So loud...what was that noise?" A familiar voice said as a figure walked into view. She almost did a double. No way in heck was that the same old man from the train! This man easily topped Toriko in size and...was that a tiny jug of alcohol? "Right next to someone enjoying the puffer fish whale's fin sake in a good mood. *hic*" She almost laughed hysterically. Yup. That was the guy from before. No way she could forget a hic like that. The girl watched in amazement as he, with god-like speed, quickly used the knocking gun on the animal. The beast appeared to be in shock, shivered for a few and fell over. She looked over at the chef and noticed he wasn't moving. "Komatsu... Hey Komatsu! Are you alright?! Say something!" She called over to him but got no response. Did the poor guy pass out?

As if just suddenly noticing the boy next to him the man looked over at him. "Oh my, oh my. This child is.." He leaned closer down to Komatsu. "His heart stopped from the shock of the explosion." Say what?! Her eyes widen in shock. Does..does that mean what she thinks it does...? "And his eardrums are ripped as well." The old man finished, opening up his jacket to reveal a variety of different tools she has never seen before. "I owe these kids a favor for the sake on the train. As a thanks, I'll give you a second life." "Say wha? Are you saying you can save him?! Please! Please help him!"

**Toriko's and Coco's view of things**

They quickly made their way towards where the two used the popper. Those bats weren't exactly helping their progress. "That explosion from before! My custom-made Toriko cracker! You've popped one huh, Komatsu and Andrea!" Toriko said as he kept running, using an arm to block the bats from his view. "Hey, hey, just how much gunpowder is in there Toriko?!" The poison man asked. How much exactly was used to make one of those things? He got worried when the giant hunter got a thinking look on his face. "Maybe there was a bit too much. I forgot to tell them to put in earplugs too." Toriko mused as they kept their pace. That had him even more worried. If he doesn't then.. "Let's hurry!" Coco said as they increased their pace. '_Probability of my fortune-telling to be right is 97%. It's a high probability but its not 100%! 3% is wrong! Komatsu-kun!_ Andrea-chan!' The dark man thought as they got nearer to the others. "Komatsu-kun! Andrea-chan!" "Komatsu! Andrea!" They called out as they entered the cavern. Hope those two were alright! The two men blinked when they saw the girl bear hugging the chef, who had a surprised and dazed look. Though it was kinda ruined with him blushing due to him being hugged. The sight was kinda funny but at the moment they were relieved to see the two of them alive. "Ko..Komatsu! Andrea!" "Toriko-san! Coco-san!" Komatsu said happily, getting ready to cry. The girl looked over in their direction and smiled. "Took you idiots long enough." She told them wearily. "Hey!" Toriko started as Coco chuckled a bit. "It wasn't easy fighting in the dark with a creature like that!" "So the two big bad hunters got creamed by it?" "Like to see you try to fight it missy." The hunter grumbled.

Andrea gave a quiet chuckle as the chef quickly got up and rushed over to them, getting ready to hug when he seemed to remember something. "Wait.. hang on a second Toriko-san!" The chef, suddenly angry, yelled at him. Toriko had a big smile on his face as he said, "I'm glad you two are alright Komatsu and Andrea!" "No, no, no what is that firecracker?!" "Hm?" The hunter went as the girl quickly walked over to them and proceeded to punch Toriko in the stomach with all her might, causing both to wince in pain. "What was that for?!" Toriko grunted out, rubbing his stomach. "That wasn't a damn cracker! THAT was a bomb! Were you trying to kill us?!" "That's right Toriko-san! It's a weapon! A weapon I tell you! We were about to die!" Toriko chuckled. "I see I see. Must of been rough." "Rough is putting it mildly! What?! Want me to haunt your sorry ass so soon?! AGH! Fool! Idiot! Dummy!" She growled at him as she waved her arms in anger and outrage. Really too cute. It kinda sucked that he found her hugging the chef but still. Could be worse. "No! And speaking of which I died once!" "Yea you idiot! What would you have done if he was completely dead?! What then?!" The giant hunter looked at the two in disbelief. "The hell that happened. You're alive." "I was saved by a big old man!" "Eh? A big old man?" The two nodded. "Yes!"Coco, who was watching the exchange with some amusement, suddenly noticed that the shadow of death was gone. '_Komatsu-kun's shadow of death is gone. What is the meaning of this? What's more is that a devil serpent is here too. From the looks of it its been knocked! Impossible.. Someone who knows the technique of knocking a devil serpent and the only one I can think of is the gourmet expert who is familiar with the knocking of all beast...Knocking Master Jirou! He uses an original knocking gun that isn't sold commercially. Not only knocking but extension and contraction of muscles he freely manipulates even the shape of his body, and furthermore he's said to be able to even resuscitate a person who just died. He must of defeated the devil serpent and saved Komatsu-kun. Most likely on his way back from capturing the pufferfish whale._' He looked at the entrance. The strong aura he sensed from before he entered the cave was him. Although it was hard to imagine that the man would a lay finger on the thieves outside the cave. What was that strange ominous feeling earlier? No way that could of been him. It had a more...edge to it then what he was used to sensing.

"Oi! Coco! Lets get going! The sandy beach of the cave is just up ahead!" Toriko called to him, snapping him out of his thoughts. Oh well. In any case he was just glad that his fortune telling was wrong about Komatsu but... he looked over at the girl and still saw the shadow of death. Hers still hasn't gone away. In fact, its like it's wrapping itself around her. Not a good sign. "Hey Coco! You coming?" She called over to him as she watched the chef yelling and kicking at the giant man. He chuckled as he rushed over. "Yes. Lets go!" He told her. She laughed a bit as Komatsu landed a kick on Toriko and nodded at him. "Lets go!" She said with a smile. He chuckled again. "Not going to chew out Toriko?" He asked as the group made their way to the beach. The smell of the sea was stronger as they got closer and closer to the sandy beach. "Nah. Komatsu seems to be having fun getting after him. Sides, its much more fun then me kicking him." Andrea said, watching the two fondly. He's gotta admit it was pretty funny to see those two go at it. The poison man smiled and nodded a bit. While he's got her attention he might as well cross out of the possibilities. "Forgive me for asking this but...are you sick by any chance?" The girl blinked in confusion for a second before replying, "No. Why?" "Ah...no reason." She thought for a second before asking, "Is there a death shadow or whatever around me?" She's good to have guessed that right off the bat but he didn't want to scare her or anything. "By your silence I'll take that as a yes. Ai, ai, ai. Guess those assholes really want me gone." "Eh? What do you mean?" There were people who hated her? For what? Andrea raised an eyebrow. "I interrupted a ceremony and tasered one of the leaders of a strange cult. I don't think I earned a lot of love from them." "No but for to hate you enough to get the shadow of death on you?" The man started before she continued. "Yup. It can happen. I've read a case somewhere where a woman left either her religion or her church to be with her husband against the entire church advice. If memory serves she started to get bad headaches that grew worse and worse by the day until she discovered that the church and her family were praying for her to leave her husband. Finally she had enough and told them all to leave her alone and that she'll never leave her husband. After that they stopped praying and the headaches went away."

"No offense Andrea but I can't see that happening." Toriko commented over his shoulder. She rolled her eyes at him. "It can if the mind is firmly set but cases like that are far and few between." "How do you know that kind of thing anyway?" Coco asked as they walked up to the beach. The dark man chuckled as she blushed rather cutely and said shyly, "I like weird stuff like that. I find it quite fun cause I know its out there for real." She stopped and noticed the beach. It really was something. Large cavern softly glowing, soft sandy beach with the gentle laps of water being heard. "At last, we're here!" Toriko said as the group gazed at the water. They finally reached their destination: the sandy beach!

**Andrea's view of things**

Wow! She never knew that such a pretty place existed! Looking around she noticed that a soft glow was being given off, wonder by what. At least its bright enough to at least see what's going on. "There was a recent visitor." Toriko said, looking down at something. The girl followed his gaze and saw a set of footprints. "He probably went back already." "Huh?" Toriko went. "The old man whol helped save Komatsu." "I'm pretty sure the one who proceeded us was the old man who saved me."

**~flash back~**

"We-ll now is this the first time since I retired? To fiddle with a heart that is?" *hic*" The old man, Jirou, said,p, taking out some tools. "What are you going to do to him?" Andrea asked as she watched him put a huge finger on the chef. What the heck was he doing? He continued on without hearing her. "Although with what I fiddled with weren't humans hehe." Ah. That's right. If that weird old man is here then chances are good he's a hunter like the others. "It's chaotic, it's choatic. And I find myself swaying hehe." Her eyes widen at that. "Y..you can't work on someone while your drunk! Are you insane?!" "Ah?" The old am went, looking over in her direction for the first time since walking in. "The young miss from the train. Was that intimidation from before yours?" He asked as he worked on the chef. Annoyed she replied back, "Does it look like I'm capable of something like that?" "Hehehe. Haven't seen that in a while. Now back to the kid. In case of humans, was it about 3 minutes from cardiac arrest to state of brain dead?" Wasn't it 3 or 5 minutes? Who cares!? Just work on saving him before he's dead for real! "Makes me yawn. There's even time to take a swing." He said as he took a drink from the ridiculously tiny jug. "Are you for real? How can this be a time to drink?! For crying outloud MOVE your sorry rump before Komatsu dies! Please!" She didn't care if she sounded like she was begging. That man was her friend! He had to save him!

A moment later he took out this gigantic stun gun looking thing and jabbed into the chef. "Compared to prey that has incomprehensible internal structures humans are nice an easy to understand." She narrowed her eyes a bit. Why the hell was this guy's problem? He turned on the gun, using it like a jumper cable to restart the chef's heart. The ld hunter listened for a moment before nodding his head. "Good. It's back." He said, putting the gun back and took out another instrument. "So young lady. I take it yer not from here eh?" "Eh?! How'd you know?!" The girl asked, astonished that he guessed so quickly. The man gave a chuckle as he worked on Komatsu's ear. "For one yer scent. The scent of your world is unmistakeable. The last time I smelt it was about 100 years ago." Frowning in confusion Andrea asked, "Scent? I stink or something?" Jiruo chuckled as he continued, "The second was that intimidation. Although I must admit, I'm quite surprised that THEIR on the move again. Even more so that their going out of the way to protect you." "Wait a minute you KNOW what's going on?! Who's they?! How much do you know?!" If he knew what's going on then he could help her find a way home!

"I made a membrane with a polysaccharide that's included in the shell of the deep sea dwelling doctor lobster. Compatibility with other organisms is unparalleled. With this you can hear sounds with no problem and you can go swimming right away." The old man told the chef. "Hey now! Get up already!" The girl watched in amazement as Komatsu slowly came to. She bit back a laugh as the chef cried out in terror, "Gya! A big old geezer monster! Shortened to big geezer!" The old hunter's face was soo funny that she couldn't help but laugh out loud. "I'm the one who saved your life!" That made him stop in his tracks. "eh? Life... Ah!" He went as he recalled the cracker. "Well then, look out for yourself. Give my regards to your companion." The old man told the two as he reached and picked up a bucket. She blinked when she realized that the bucket was full of whale looking fish. Was that the puffer whale thing? "Ah yes." Jiruo started, as if remembering something. "There's something mysterious coming towards the sandy beach of the cave. So it'd be better to go back once you've got the pufferfish straight away." The old man gave a small wave as he was left before stopping for a moment. "Young lady. If I were I would tell the others that it was me who did that back there." He told her. "Eh? What for?" Andrea heard a chuckle come from him. "There are somethings these boys aren't ready for. Like the ones after you. So if I were I keep quiet about it, the both of you. Well I'll be seeing you." After he said that he left the two alone. "Hey! What does that mean?! What's after me?! You can't just tell a person something like that and not explain! Damnit!" She called after him, getting to her feet shakily. "What...did he mean by that?" The chef asked her. She could only shrug in response before tackling him. "Ack! Andrea?!" "I'm so happy your alright! I thought you were dead!" She told him, giving him a bear hug.

**~End Flash Back~**

"He already had them, the old man. A large amount of pufferfish whale and on top of that they didn't turn poisonous." Komatsu finished, looking at the foot prints. "For the Knocking Master that was probably simple too." Coco said as Toriko went, "Ah. I see." That man was a master? Thinking back on it the amount of skill and precision he demonstrated was proof that he was indeed a master. "I see now. I thought there was a smell that I smelled somewhere. So it was that old geezer." "Eh? You mean it was that funky old man with the white pompadour?" The chef asked in shock. That man didn't look that much different did he? Other then the sheer size of him was the only thing she noticed. "I did think he wasn't ordinary. But who would've thought the legendary gourmet provider. Knocking Master Jirou! His full course is a fantasy menu that most people have yet to taste. Seems like not even the capture levels can be fathomed." Which means their REALLY strong. Ai, ai, ai. "Heard that he retired as a gourmet provider long ago but he's famous as a heavy drinker. Even in retirement, it means he can still look forward to the puffer fish whale's fin sake once every ten years." Komatsu appeared to be lost in thought when the hunter told him, "In any case you mustn't forget the absolute favor that your lives were saved. Take the best cuisine to the old man someday!" "Eh? But he didn't..." Komatsu started before she shot him a look. The two looked at them in confusion. "Yea. He saved my life as well. I'll find some way to repay him before I go." She said as the chef said, "I'll do that! Yes! Then...Toriko-san, I'll ask you for provision of the ingredients!" "Nah! You can go yourself for that!" That was a fast rejection. Suddenly he began to take off his shirt, revealing a VERY well built chest. Turning deep red she quickly looked away before she got noticed. My he was well built! Well of course he was. If he wasn't then how would he be able to get all those food items? But still...woooow. And snap out of it fool! No time to be checking him out! "Noow- Let's capture some ourselves! Delicacy of the deep!"

She smiled a bit. He sure was a enthusiastic guy who loved his food. The girl watched as the two hunter took off their shoes and made their way to the water. "This sea has a lot of sea fireflies so its bright. In this we'll be able to find the puffer fish whale quickly." Coco said as he checked out the water. "Komatsu! You get in the sea and make sure to watch Coco's technique too! You came for that, didn't you?" "Ye..yes! Um... there aren't any ferocious sharks and stuff right?" At that the hunter grinned as he replied, "Don't worry! Even if there are their 100% cuter than the devil serpent and the old man! EH?!" "Ack! Andrea! What are you doing?!" She blinked a bit and stopped in mid-process of taking off her shirt. "Wha? I'm coming along as well. I wanna see some of Coco's techniques as well." The girl told them as Coco said, face deep red, "B..but taking off such clothing in front of men..!" "Oooooh so that's what bugging you guys out! Relax! Its all good!^^ Its not like I'm gonna get naked or anything. I still have some clothing on." '_But that's not the point._' The men all thought, doing their best not to look at her pink bra. (Although that's not the item they were trying to avoid looking at least they can hit or something...or worse) "Ready!^^" She said. Toriko gulped slightly and turned his head a bit, face slightly pink. Kinda of a first thing for him but he didn't mind that much. What he DID mind that there were other men looking at her and for some reason bugged him greatly. He glanced a peek at a...certain body part before diving straight into the water. The hunter didn't know she was...well endowed. The clothing she always had on hid it well. Probably wasn't the best idea to go swimming in her bra and panties but she wanted at least some dry clothing for when she got back on land and besides, the only difference between these and a bikini was the type of material. "Alright. Coming Andrea?" The poison man asked her as he jumped in followed by the chef. She quickly shimmied out of her pants and shoes before jumping in after them.

The water was so warm! She thought for sure it would be cold inside a cave! The girl immediately relaxed as she swam. Swimming was one of her favorite past times and it was always such an easy way to relax. Looking up she only smiled in bliss. Good thing she ditched the pants; they would of only hampered her movements. One of her favorite views in the whole world was looking up through the water. The space above the surface always looked so...so... opps! The boys are getting ahead of her! As she quickly caught up with the boys she looked around and saw the different kinds of fish and WOW! They looked like some lab had a field day with genetics! There was a fish that had the tentacles of an octopus, a huge fish that kinda resembled a lizard in its face and so many others. What a variety of life here! '_Kinda makes me wonder if some of the ones back home are as varied as these guys._' Andrea mused to herself as the group continued to swim when she suddenly noticed the biggest whale she has ever seen straight ahead of them. Holy crap! That was the biggest puffer fish whale she has ever seen! At least, she thought so until she noticed that the huge "whale" was made up of the smaller ones she seen the old man walk out with. An optical illusion? Damn their good. She shook her head as she watched Toriko swim closer to them. That fool. Doesn't he know that he's totally using the wrong approach? Judging from what she was told these guys are extremely delicate and she's willing to bet that the slightest wrong move will cost big. Watching him gently reach out a hand he barely touched the fish before it turned black. '_Guess black means poison then?_' The girl wondered as she used her arms and legs to stay in place. She can't stay too long otherwise her air supply will run out. Or float back to the surface cause she just floats when she's in the water. A split second later she a heard a splash and saw Komatsu swim panicky towards the two hunters. He didn't come in first? Opps... cause she shocked him when she took off her pants. Luckily no one noticed that yet. She snickered mentally as she imagined their expressions from when she was removing her shirt. So much fun!

The look Toriko sent Komatsu would of made her laugh but alas, such is the price for being under water. She noticed that Coco motioned for them to stay back. What was he up to? Whatever it is he better hurry soon! Her air supply is kinda running out! A split second later Coco vanished. What?! How the heck can a man just vanish?! He was right there! She closed her eyes and used her sense to find him. Back home she was taking meditation lessons and the like to open her third eye. From what she understood its only partially open but just enough to sense things. She gave a mental sigh of relief when she discovered the man was still there. How did he manage to erase his presence? '_Agh! Need air! Lungs are burning!_' She thought as she quickly swam to the surface. At least Komatsu needed a fresh breath too. Don't know how she could being up there alone. When she breached the surface she took the deepest breath of her life. Fresh air! She wasn't a marine! She can't hold her breath for 7 minutes! 3 at least and 5 at best. Suddenly she got the feeling she was being stared at.

**~Toriko's view of things~**

'_For a second I thought Coco had disappeared. He splendidly erased his presence. At last, we'll catch the puffer whale!' _The hunter thought as he turned to look at the other two. They better be watching closely, their the ones who wanted to see this. Looking up he saw they were getting a breath of air. '_They run out of breath too fast! Hm?_' He felt his face turn bright red when he noticed that the girl was only in panties. What the hell?! That was awfully daring to be in that kind of outfit! The hunter couldn't help but noticed that the panties matched the color of the bra and if he didn't know any better he'd say there was a cute little white bow in the front. Damn she has nice legs.. Suddenly he felt a...problem...coming so he quickly averted his gaze and watched the fish and Coco. The fish! Mustn't lose focus! Mustn't lose focus! Think about how delicious they were going to be! How will they be cooked and what they will be turned into! Yea! Think about that!

**~Andrea's view of things~**

Ai, ai. She doesn't know how much longer she can stay and watch cause she's going to burn out soon. Being tired out here didn't strike her as a fun idea. Coco took out a knocking gun but this appeared to be smaller than the one she saw before. If its a new then that means...as if on que the voice said, **_'Knocking Gun: Delicate Type. Knocking gun that can be used on animals weak against stimulus or delicate prey whose meat quality deteriorates quickly at an instantaneous _****_tension or stress. To strike the vital spot in order to nail in the thin and soft needle requires one to be highly skilled. Moreover, since it is quickly dissolved inside the organism, there is no long lasting paralysis effect. Eh?! What the hell are you wearing?! Get your ass on the shore and get dressed__! Now!' _**'_Tch. Not you as well! This is no less revealing then a bathing suit! I can swim naked if you want!'_ She almost burst out laughing when a indignant snort was heard. **_'Get your ass on that shore right now young lady or so help me!'_**The girl sighed mentally and started to swim back towards the shore. Fine. She was getting tired and NOT going because she was told to. At least she got to watch Coco use that delicate gun on the fish and see it work. As she reached the shore the girl noticed that the chef was already there sitting and he didn't appear happy. "Bad mood cause you couldn't stay long to watch?" Andrea asked, taking a seat next to him. He nodded a bit and said, "I came all this way and endured things just to see Coco-san at work," The chef sighed deeply. Ruffling his hair she said, "Don't feel too bad. I wanted to stay longer too and watch. On the bright though, we DID get to see some of his moves didn't we?" "Th..that's true but..." He started before she said, "Some is better then none! Ah well! When we meet him again I'm sure we'll see more!" The chef blinked a bit before smiling a bit. "Yea... that's a good thought. But...um.." Komatsu looked away, face red. "I...if your done swimming can you get your cloths on please?" At that she laughed hard. "My goodness! You all act like you've never seen a woman before! But alright, much as I enjoy seeing you all get so flustered over my "lack of clothing"!"

Might as well. She WAS getting kind cold and like hell she was gonna be like this when the others arrived. Quickly getting dressed she stretched out in the sand. Wonder if she has time to take a quick nap? Meh. Might as well cause who knows how long Coco and Toirko are gonna take in capturing the fish. She reached into her bag and took out her ipod and quickly set it to go off in an hour. "Hey Komatsu I'm gonna take a quick nap k?" "Ok." After getting comfortable she just closed her eyes when suddenly the alarm went off, making her jump a bit at the same time as Toriko and Coco popped up out of the water. "Fuuu! I finally got one!" Toriko said, using the back of his hand to get the water out of his eyes. "We got quite the few Komatsu-kun, Andrea-chan!" The girl smiled and said back to them, "Good job!" "Eh?! Really?!" The little chef said next to her, standing up fast as the other two made their way to the shore. Coco took the sheet, which was bugling, and placed it on the ground to reveal at least 10 of the puffer whale. "This many! Awesome!" She bit her cheek. Sooo funny! "10 altogether, huh. Although I failed quite a bit as well." The poison man said, as he knelt down by the fish. "But how pathetic to have two of the four kings go at it for an hour and only get 10." "Well in my opinion I think you guys did a very good job." She told them as she walked up to them. Stifling a yawn Andrea continued. "Considering how delicate they were I'm surprised you got this much." "Yea! This is a big catch for the delicacy of illusion!" Komatsu said as he continued to stare at the fish. Coco had a look of amusement when he said, "Now...this is the real deal from here on! The retail market price for a puffer fish whale that hasn't turned poisonous is about 100 million but in the case that the poison sack is completely removed, it jumps up to 300 million. However, if it becomes poisonous it becomes 0! (In reality, it goes for bout 8 million through the black market route)."

She whistled at that. "What a gamble! Talk about hit it or win it situation!" The girl muttered as Komatsu got a look of dread as he said, "Th..this is like 10 lottery tickets that can be 300 million yen each. (she's gotta learn the currency here cause she has NO idea on how much that would be in the USA) or turn into pieces of paper huh." "Money's got nothing to do with this. We leave it to you Coco." Toriko said as he looked at the dark man. She pretended not to notice the water dripping down him. Ooooh boy oh boy. Coco took out a delicate looking knife and closed his eyes, and got ready. He seemed nervous for a minute before telling them, seeming embarrassed, "Don't get mad at me even if I fail." Toriko clenched his fists as he shouted, "I will get mad! Come on, Coco!" "Coco-san, come on!" Komatsu joined the hunter. She giggled a bit before saying with a smile, "Do your best Coco. I totally know you can do it." Coco blushed a bit before saying, "I mean, its been a while." "Foretell the probability of success!" "What percent is it exactly Coco-san?" "...about 10%" "One?!" The two went as the other man got more embarrassed. "That's great!" The girl said with a smile. "EH?! HOW'S THAT GREAT?!" Toriko shouted, waving his arms a bit. Andrea giggled as she replied, "It means that its not zero so we still get a chance.^^ Any chance is better then none, don't you boys agree?" Reluctantly the two nodded and with that Coco got to work.

**~3 fish later~**

She kinda felt sorry for Coco as he worked on fish number 4. She wasn't aware that the sack is in different places in each fish, which makes a already hard task even harder. Glancing over at Toriko, who after the first fish failed, went to fishing. Really. He needs to learn patience or else nothing will ever get done. Although she had to bite back another smile, he was just too laid back and care free. "Did you remove the poison sack yet?" Toriko called over from his fishing spot. "Why are you doing something so leisurely like fishing, Toriko-san?!" Komatsu shouted at him while Coco said, "He's had little patience since the old days. Leave it alone, Komatsu-kun." Andrea heard him mutter "You had a fishing rod?" That she had to agree. Where in the world did he have a fishing rod? She didn't pay attention when he went in the other direction and just happened to hear a splash in the water and turned just in time to see him fishing. As she continued to watch Coco work the girl got the whiff of booze and turned to see Toriko heating up a bottle in a little pan and fire set. She sweat drop a bit as she thought, '_He's drinking already?' _Damn he really has NO patience does he. "Whaaa, you can't even cut off the fin quickly?" "Please be quiet, Toriko-san! Why are you setting up the atsukan already?!" The chef yelled at him again. She was getting tired of watching a bit and was starting to feel the pressure on the man. Think she'll get her feet wet again. Too bad she couldn't go swimming. (Much fun as it was to see the boys get all flustered there were other creatures swimming in there and she didn't want to end up as lunch) Taking off her shoes she wandered over to the water and sat down, just letting her feet get wet. Suddenly she heard Koatmsu go, "In that case, I'll see that challenge!" She was too far away to hear what was being said but she saw the chef go into his bag and pull out a cloth. What's that? Andrea wondered as she got up and walked over in time to see two of the most beautiful knives she's ever seen.

_'These must be the ones he uses at work. If he puts this much time and care into them then his skills as a chef must be excellent._' She thought as Coco thought, '_A...amazing! They have a completely wet looking finish! They're scrupulously maintained elegant knifes. Looking at his tools, I a pro-chef, Komatsu-kun's trouble and ability are...!_' "I take it Coco handed over the reins to you Komatsu?" The girl asked, taking a seat by him again. Komatsu nodded and said, "Yes! I want to try this and see what happens!" "That's the spirit!" Andrea said as the dark man took a seat on the other side. Andrea couldn't help but smile at the pure happiness that the chef was showing and giving off. He mustn't see this kind of thing that often which kinda surprised her, considering where he worked. Maybe they couldn't afford it? As Coco directed the chef she couldn't help but look at the ocean. For some reason, it felt to her something was coming. Something big. Whatever it was it had her attention to the point where she didn't know that Komatsu was on the last fish. Cheeks flaming from embarrassment, the girl turned just in time to see the fish opened to reveal a small black sack in a sea of the pinkest meat ever to be seen. "Its in sight...the poison sack!" Someone said. She glanced a look at Coco and saw a very pleased look on his face. "This...this is it." "Its bare hands from here, Komatsu-kun. The poison sack has to be taken out slowly while being rotated." The chef got a very determined look on his face as he said, "Y..yes!" Ai. Just watching him doing this part was making her sweat for him as he slowly reached into the fish and began to slow remove the sack while at the same time rotating it. With what seemed like an eternity he finally removed the sack which earned him cheers from the others and a split second later the fish was glowing brightly. "Owah! The puffer fish whale is!" Toriko went as Coco finished for him, "If the poison isn't inside the body it gives off a radiance!" She laughed hard as the hunters cheered and shouted as they shouted, "Success! The puffer fish whale's poison sack as been taken out!" Komatsu had tears running down his face as he said, "I.. I'm zo glad the last one was a success!" Giggling she bent over and placed a kiss on his cheek, which caused to blush and go, "EH?!" "A reward for removing it so successfully!" "H..hey! Can we get a reward too for capturing the fish?!" Toriko went as Coco blushed a bit. "Toriko really!" She raised an eyebrow at that. "Nope. YOUR not getting one." He appeared crestfallen at that. "Why not?!" "Cause SOMEONE didn't come after us in time!" "Hey! You knew the possibility was high!" "I thought you were gonna keep an eye on us!"

The other men watched them argue back and forth on the issue before Coco said, "It's Komatsu-kun's achievement." "No! It was Coco-san's precise instructions!" "Komatsu!" Toriko started as he put a hand on the chef's shoulder. "For the first time, I think it was good I brought you along!" The chef sweat dropped a bit as he replied, "Y..yes...thank you very much. She started to laugh again as someone shouted, "Ookay! In that case, let's have a food sampling party right away!" "Komatsu! Make the puffer fish whale's body thin please!" "Yes! I'll make fin sake!" She helped the hunters get things ready as Komatsu proceeded to cook the whale. "No thank you." Andrea told Toriko as he was about to place a fin in her cup. "Eh? Why not?" "Not much of a drinker." She said. Although the last time she got drunk was...quite interesting but that's a story for another time and he didn't need to know it. "Eh. Whatever you say. More for me! Hey Komatsu! How's it going over there?" The chef looked up from his task and replied back, "I did it!" The chef walked over and presented a beautiful plate of sashimi. Only reason why she knew that was because she looked it up before, curious as to what kind of dish it was. She took her place between the chef and the blue haired hunter as they all sat down to eat. Never been much of a fish person but meh, first time for everything and besides, the kid put his whole heart into making it so it was bound to be delicious! Taking their cups they raised they said cheers and took a sip, which surprised her cause she was sure Toriko was gonna down it. She took a sip and relaxed a bit. Not that she'll tell anyone but she preferred drinking sake instead of some other type of alcohol. It just had the right flavor for her. Downside was that she could keep drinking and won't be aware of how many bottles she downed. She looked over and saw Coco wasn't drinking. "Don't feel like drinking Coco? Ah. Sorry. Coco-san." Andrea asked, man she's gotta remember to add -san to his name. The poison man smiled at her a bit and said, "You can just call me Coco-kun or just Coco if you like." The girl grinned cheekily at that. "Works for me. I'm not big into being formality." He chuckled a bit at that. Komatsu noticed as well and asked, "Is Coco-san not going to drink it? The sake?" "I don't like sake. If I get drunk I lose control of my poison."

"That's gotta be rough." The girl said somberly as she drank hers. Of course. Dumbass. If he's buzzed or drunk chances are good his control of the poison would slip and someone would get hurt. Hopefully hurt. "In that case.." She reached over and took his cup and drank it. "I'll just liberate yours." "I thought you didn't like drinking." Toriko teased a bit. "Got a soft spot for sake." "Now then.." Toriko continued, taking a pair of chopsticks and taking a sizable chunk of the fish. "Ah- You took a little too much Toriko-san! At great pains I made it with beauty!" Andrea chuckled slightly at Coco's expression. "I quite agree with that thought but I'm not the one to talk. I have zero refinement." She told him as she took another sip from her sake. "Eh? Your a mind reader?" Coco asked with his own chuckle as Toriko thoroughly enjoyed the bite he took of it. Its kinda funny watching him make all kinds of expressions when he eats. Not that she blames him. (Why is she starting to think that sentence is becoming like a broken record?) The food is QUITE excellent (another sentence that's becoming frequent) compared to homes although she suspected that Komatsu is the root of the cause of the excellence. The bit of food he ate seemed to re-energize him cause the exhaustion he had before seemed to have disappeared. Reaching over she took a small bite and blinked. '_I think I just found my favorite food here. This is the most softest, most tastiest thing by far! I think I'm in love!_' The girl thought as the boys enjoyed their bites. Without warning something came out from the sea. The group turned to see a tall creature covered in dark brownish hair with the oddest face ever. The shiver she felt before went down her back. Whatever that thing was...it was dangerous. It was roughly 50 feet from where they were. The hunters got up, watching the creature as it walked further onto the beach. "What's that?" Toriko mused aloud as he continued to watch.

The moment it looked over in their direction the coldest chill she's ever felt went down her back. Ah. So this is what it felt like to be prey. Immediately the men got into defensive stances. "Komatsu! Andrea! Get away!" The girl quickly got up as the chef had a confused expression. "I said get away!" Shit! The kid doesn't know the danger he's in! She quickly put him behind her as she watched the creature. Her jaw dropped as she watched Coco turn the darkest black ever seen, poison slowly dropping off him a bit. A few seconds later Toriko seemed to power up, causing a circle of wind to form around him and pushed her and the chef back. "Wahh!" Komatsu went as she tried to hold her ground. Kinda impossible with this wind but damn if she's gonna budge! The three of them continued to have some kind of face off until it looked RIGHT at her and seemed to be taken back. Then without warning it started to walk towards the group. Oooooh shit! What is it going to do?! Is it going to attack?! If so, there's not a chance in hell they can get out of here in time before a show down occurred!

**~Nobody's view~**

The men stiffened. Shit. Were they going to have to fight this guy? They really hoped not. As the creature got closer and closer the hunters got more nervous. They didn't sense any fighting spirit or hostility coming from it. Was it their imagination or was this thing concentrating on something? '_Or someone._' Toriko thought, trying to figure out what it wants. Coco and Toriko stiffened even more, getting ready to defend as the creature was mere feet from them. Here it comes. The hunters blinked in shock as it just passed them without so much as a glance. What the? They turned around to see the creature walking up to where Komatsu and Andrea were. Shit! Was it going after them?! The creature stopped in front of the girl, who was doing her best to stand her ground. '_Don't do anything foolish Andrea!_' The two thought as they watched. Shit! This was driving Toriko nuts! That thing was in front of the girl yet he didn't dare move lest he provoke it! The men held their breath as they watched the creature reach out towards her. "Don't touch me." She told it defiantly, looking right into its eyes. Shit! Don't provoke it girl! "I don't give you any permission to touch me." The thing paused for a moment, as if contemplating her words then simply reached over and yanked a necklace off. For some reason Andrea was under the impression that it chuckled at her as it did so. The girl held herself back from yelping in surprise, even though the movement caused a slight scratch just below her neck. Taking its prize in hand it walked off into the darkness, Toriko and Coco watching it warily. When it finally left the men gave a sigh of relief, Coco going to his knees as Toriko rushed over to the girl, who also sank to her knees. "Are you alright?!" Komatsu asked, trying his best not to freak out as the hunter knelt down to her and looked at the scratch, frowning a bit. Why would it take something like a necklace? She appeared to be mumbling something. "Eh? What was that?" Toriko asked. She looked up at him, the girl appeared to be in shock, and said, "It took one of my necklaces." "Heh. If your worried about that then your alright." He said as he ruffled her hair a bit. She tried not to smile as she growled lightly. "Again you mess with a woman's hair." To Coco he asked, "What was that just now?" "I...don't know. I first saw the electro-magnetic waves.

That is it for this chap. I'll combine the rest of this section with the next one cause there are a few things I would like to ask of you guys. First off, am I getting the personalities right so far? One thing I hate is that the personality doesn't match the correct character. Second off, is the interactions between the characters correct? This is a romance it won't do me any good if its not showing them falling for each other. I'm sure as most of you have noticed I have been using the manga to write this story. As such I'm sure you all know that Sani will be coming up shortly and here is where I'm having a problem. I can't decide which party to send her with in the regal mammoth part. I like the Sani and Komatsu part cause she can get to know Sani better and I also like the Toriko and Rin part cause she can see more of Toriko's inner self thing. I have decided a 5 vote count on whichever side gets 5 votes will be the one I do. So depending on which one you want please send me a vote and you can ONLY vote ONCE. No cheating XD Last but not least I was thinking of having a lemon but its still undecided and NO, its NOT going to be any time soon. Perhaps later on in the story but its not anywhere close to it. I want the relationship to deepen first before lemon comes into play. Which brings me to my last question: do you guys want a lemon? Personally I can go either way but again its undecided for me so I decided to leave it up to the masses. Again it will be 5 votes and vote ONLY once. Now I don't want to hear "Ewwwww" lemons or something like that. I just want Yes or No. Thank you for your generous support of Cross Over. I never expected it to be such a huge hit nor get so many great views. The reason I decided to write this story was because there aren't enough OCs in this particular anime and much as I love yaoi its NOT happening in this one. Anywho, please vote and I will post in the following chapter or so on what won the most votes. Please continue to read this story^_^


	8. Battle Wolf Part1

The men looked down at where the creature came from and saw its footprints. The print looked like some kind of trident only smaller. "That guy's foot prints..they weren't here when we got here. In other words... it came from the sea. Passing through the 1000 meter deep sea. There's a living thing like that?" Toriko asked as he helped the girl to her feet. She was quite shaken but none the worse for wear. "Its not a living thing." "Eh?" The three went as Coco finished by say, "That guy just now was...not a living creature!" The simple statement made the group stare at him, dumbfounded. Wait... was that thing...a robot? Andrea bit back a laugh. If that's the case then they got everything here but the kitchen sink. "Andrea-chan...are you alright?" Coco asked as he walked over to her. Andrea nodded. "Y...yea... just...wow..." "Th..that necklace wasn't important was it Andrea?" The chef asked her. Andrea shook her head. "Not really. I got it during my senior year in high school." "Your not upset that its gone?" He asked again as the hunters walked over to them. Again she shook her head. "Better the necklace than me. I just hope that thing chokes on it!" Toriko laughed hard at that as Coco ruffled her hair a bit and said, "I'm glad your alright Andrea-chan." Blushing slightly she looked away and nodded as Toriko exclaimed, "Hey, hey! How come your not yelling at him for touching your hair when you yell at me for it?!" She snorted and explained simply, "He's being a whole lot gentler then you. That and hair's already messed up from the swim." "Unfair! Totally unfair!" Toriko continued, hands on his hips. Awww how cute! He jealous! Guess she better not mention that the hand on her head was almost as warm as his but it'll be just her secret.

**Some time later**

Argh! Why did she agree to come with them? And what is with these people and heights?! Instead of a bird the group was now flying in a helicopter heading towards another biotope. Watching in amazement (if one can call it that) as the hunter stacked an impossibly tall burger with even more food. Honestly! Where can he put all that insane amount of food?! He's a big man and all but still! There are limits! "Done! It's complete!" Toriko said with a huge smile on his face. "I call it the Toriko burger!" "Sure you're done? Think there's food you haven't put on there." She said while Komatsu went, "It's too big, Toriko-san!" The poor guy's eyes were practically bugging out of his head at the insane burger. Just because there was some meat from the devil serpent didn't mean he had to go all crazy with it. "Devil serpent meat, enchanted with mineral cheese (man it sounded like he was in love with the damn thing) and neo-tomato from Coco inside, the taste and the nutritional value is out standing! Itadakimaaaa!" "No! That's impossible!" Komatsu as the two both watched in shock as he unhinged his jaw JUST to eat the burger whole! How in the world can anyone DO that?! '_Actually I take that back. This man, if it involves food, will do anything necessary to eat_ it.' The girl thought as the two stared at him. They haven't even been back long enough to relax from the last trip they went on.

**~A few days before~**

"Komatsu-kun...Andrea-chan...Though it was a short trip.. I'm really glad I met you." Coco told them as the group got ready to say their goodbyes and go their separate ways. Toriko stood nearby with some of the devil serpent meat. He wouldn't stop talking about it all the way back from the beach! "Coco-san! Me too! I became really diligent! Thank you very much!" Komatsu said excitedly, clenching his fists in happiness. Andrea felt her mouth twitch a bit. Really these two. If they ever formed a pair they'd make on VERY interesting team. If she's still around she wouldn't mind continuing to tag along and see what adventures they would have. The girl's gotta admit; ever since meeting these two life has been anything but dull! "Next time I'll show up at your restaurant." The poison man told him, putting a hand on his hip. That seemed to send the little guy even higher on cloud 9. "Yes! Please come any time! The best full course will be waiting!" The chef told him even more excitedly. "I'll be looking forward to it." Coco turned towards her. "I hope the next time we meet you'll play something on your instrument." She blinked for a second before smiling. "Yes. I'll be glad to play something for you. Ever since coming here I haven't had the chance to play anything." Coco smiled at that. "I look forward to it." Turning towards the other hunter the two said nothing for a few seconds before the poison man said, "See ya... Toriko. Soon, we'll probably meet again." "Yea..that's probably true." Toriko replied back. Why does she get the impression that there's more to it then that? Judging from the looks on their faces its like their sharing a secret just between them. The group left, without really saying anything about that thing from before. She knew it must be weighing heavily on their minds. For a fact she knew it certainly was on hers! That necklace was from her senior year of high school and the only other real thing she liked from there besides her high school ring (which she didn't wear anymore but still). For that matter, why even TAKE it in the first place? It wasn't anything special. Just a mini high school ring with some graduation symbols with a red stone hanging from a thick chain which wasn't even real silver. Ah well. At least they made it out alive from the encounter. They just got back from the cave when a message was waiting for Toriko, asking him to come to another biotope. How many of those things did these people have? Ah well. (Again she's getting the feeling that she's saying that a lot as well which she just did again)

**Back in the helicopter  
**

"By the way, Toriko-san, is yesterday's puffer whale entering Toriko-san's full course?" The chef asked, smiling happily. The girl couldn't help but smile at of them all he seemed to be the one most excited. '_Guess he can't wait to see the new stuff they got there._' Andrea mused. She's gotta admit she's kinda excited too, this adventure was turning out to be quite different then from what she imagined. Toriko took a bite from his sandwich before replying, "Yeah, its as expected from what's called a delicacy from the depths of the sea but its impact was... As the course's "seafood dish" there are still better things. To that extent, the sea reaches far and wide, there's still more things I haven't eaten, there are lots of ingredients." After all that trouble and he WASN'T satisfied with the fish? And to think she originally thought she was a picky eater! The girl giggled slightly as the chef's eyes practically sparkled as he continued, "And where we're going from here too will have yet unknown known treasure ingredients right?!" Unknown known? Is that possible? Technically he's right in a sense, there are known KNOWN stuff yet at the same time the stuff is unknown to him. She glanced over at the man in the black suit and glasses as he said, "The first biotope! We, the IGO', (she gave up on ever getting the explanation on what the is other then what she gleaned from the others) prided largest garden." The chef seemed to just noticed cause he said, "Department Head Johannes!" Toriko continued to eat as he started to explain the garden. From what she got was that even though its called a garden the 8th biotop is different from the others.

The whole island is an arch, that area is roughly 500,000 square kilometers. She'll have to make a note to look that up and see how much space that actually is, sadly she never was any good at conversion. That number seemed to shock the chef as well. At least she wasn't alone in that aspect. The IGO created a suitable structure for gourmet development and study. It kinda does explain the huge number mentioned before. After a time the study part had been abandon and became famous for selective breeding and cloned animals. Wait a sec... "Cloned animals!? You guys can do that?!" That made the explanation halt for a moment. "Eh? Course they could. Why not?" "No way! Last time I checked it was still in the experimental process!" The hunter blinked a bit before chuckling. Right. He keeps forgetting she's not from here every so often. Glancing at the confused Department Head he answered, "Its been going on for years. Its not like they've kept it a secret." She looked at him for a minute before nodding, sighing a bit. How the hell can she ask any questions if their gonna keep the fact about her quiet? Granted the group would look at them like they were nuts but still. She watched as the hunter asked the Head, "Surely its used for tourism?" The man adjusted his eyeglasses as he replied, "The limit for going to the island for tourism per year is one million people." The girl almost choked on that. Damn! There are places back home that received more than that!

"By the way, reservations requires a 5 year wait. I should say that bringing with you any kind of food or drink to the island is prohibited, Toriko-san." The Head finished, looking right at him. Toriko continued to eat and carry on as if he didn't hear him, "Its nicknamed the Gourmet Garden. Nowadays new delicacies are said to be born here on this island." "Are you listening?" The man asked. The girl shook her head and said, "Sorry. Every time he thinks of food all else is lost to him." He chuckled a bit and nodded. "The ancient food treasure, regal mammoth, certainly too... its not the only inhabiting animal on the island though right?" The little chef asked excitedly. Man it must be nice to always be excited. Although it was certainly quite refreshing to see someone being totally honest. "This time the request is the regal mammoth but, "Toriko gave the Head a side glanced, "the real goal is different right?" The man was silent for a few moments before finally saying, "The details will be explained by the chief." Hope the chief was a normal guy but given with the people she's met so far normal seems VERY out of the question. Suddenly she felt the chopper descend, causing her to grip the holds and the seat with a vice-like grip as someone said, "I see it! Please land in front of Gate G!" Why can't any place they go be something that DOESN'T involve heights?! She wasn't sure how much her heart can take of this!

Suddenly a warm hand was on her head and soothingly ruffled her hair, causing her to growl a bit. "Relax. We're almost there. I think you're starting to get better at handling heights." A voice said. "How can I relax?! Every time we go somewhere its like a million feet off the ground!?" The girl growled out. The hunter gave a rumble of a chuckle, which sent shivers threw her. It felt altogether too sensuous and trouble making for her liking. Which was only confirmed when Toriko said, "Could be worse. We could be crash landing, which would make the helicopter descend faster and then.." Opening eyes she didn't know she closed she shot a dirty look as Andrea cut him off quickly before her stomach could protest, "Shut it! Just shut up! Don't even go there! I swear I'll kick your ass! If you continue so help me...!" Toriko laughed hard as the chopper landed. She struggled to get out of her seat as two guards, who were standing outside and waiting for them, saluted and greeted Toriko with that weird saying from before. After finally getting free she quickly followed Komatsu out and walked over to where the hunter was. "Is the chief here?" He asked as one of the guards replied, "Yes. He's eager and furthermore his stomach is empty and he is looking forward to it." "Why?" Torkio said. He sounded like he really didn't want to know the reason. Looking around the platform itself wasn't that big or impressive. What was impressive was the cliffs that two large doors were in and the cliff behind them, which she did her best not to look at. She didn't pay much attention as Komatsu asked if this was the entrance to the island. Ai, ai, ai. What is she going to do with these people? She thought with a smile as she suddenly noticed how far the hunter's gone. "Hey! Wait for us Toriko!" The girl said as she quickly rushed to catch up, leaving the chef behind to continue to look around. "Hey Komatsu! Andrea! Hurry up or I'm gonna leave you behind!" Toriko called over his shoulder. "Y...y..yes!" The chef called back, running to catch up with them.

Giggling a bit she commented, "Someone seems like their having fun." "And your not?" Toriko asked her. Shrugging a bit she replied, "I am. It's just that...this is all so new to me and it still hasn't sunk in that this is real." "Believe me. This is real." Toriko muttered to himself as the trio walked down a flight of stairs. "The inside of the research facility is big, so don't become lost children." He said louder to the other two. When he gets the chance he's gonna see if he can talk to the president about the situation with the girl. After reaching the bottom of the stairs the two gave a start at what laid before them. It was like a giant factory, conveyor belts hauling pig like things and (ok looking away cause she didn't want to see that part) blenders. The blenders were new cause she doubted that any of the ones back home... ok...seriously... she's gotta stop doing that. "It's...its all a giant foodstuff production factory huh." The chef said from behind her, looking out into the factory as they walked through a tunnel. "Abut 30% of the world's ingredients are possible to be produced here. Although its for study." That's...kinda amazing...sort of. "There are ingredients I've never seen before." The chef said as they continued walking. "Of course. That's ordinary for a large garden. Selective breeding is being done."

She held her tongue back. Selective breeding was the usual thing but still. For their sake they better not be doing anything foolish cause there's no way in heck she'd let anything bad happen to any animal. "It's study that can't be done publicly. But its still done." Looking over to where Toriko was her jaw dropped as she watched the hunter start to strip. Ooooooh boy. That man REALLY had a nice backside. "Take off your cloths Komatsu, Andrea. All of them." Andrea blinked at that. "Say...wha?" She went as the chef said, "Eh?" Trying not to blush as the hunter striped down to his boxers she watched him hand his cloths over to a nearby guard. "It will be sterilized. Go in." Suddenly what she thought was a weird carving two doors opened up to reveal what appeared to be showers. Komatsu kept saying "Eh? Eh?" as all kinds of thoughts raced threw her mind. Why the hell are they removing their cloths? Like HELL she's gonna be stark naked in front of a group of men! "This is as far as I go. Somehow stay safe." The Head told them as the hunter replied, "Don't worry, Johanes. We're definitely going to catch the regal mammoth." Johanes nodded a bit as he said, "I wish you food luck." "Hey! Don't be slow now you two!" Toriko said, putting a hand on his hip as the chef said yes and started to undress. Face turning even more red she quickly turned away and said, "No!" "Eh? You can't enter as is you know." Toriko began before she cut him off, "I am NOT striping in front of a bunch of strange men I barely know! Let alone being NUDE in front of them! And like HELL I'm showering with two naked men!"

"Miss, before you enter the garden everything, including you, must be sterilized." The head told her. She turned around and glared at the hunter, who shifted uncomfortably. Waay too cute when angry. "I don't care! I REFUSE to be naked in front of these people! Not to mention cameras! Can't I shower by myself or something?!" The men sighed deeply before one said to the hunter and chef. "You two go on ahead. We'll think of something for the Miss." "Alright. Don't dandle too long Setsuna. Unless your not going to come with us." Toriko said as the boys entered the showers. Probably a GOOD thing she wouldn't be showering with them. He didn't know how much of an impact that would leave on him. Tch! Men! "If you would be more comfortable, you undress just inside the doorway and hand us your cloths." Reluctantly she nodded. If she wanted to catch up with the others she's gonna have to compromise but as long as her integrity and such is safe that's fine with her. Although she has the feeling Toriko wouldn't of left her if she wasn't safe. (She hopes but given his personality he may just leave someone behind in the name of food) After waiting for what seemed like ages she was finally able to go in but not before striping just inside the door way and quickly throwing her cloths at them before rushing in. She found some soap and got to scrubbing. Well, at least she can shower now cause she doesn't know when the next one will be. That was the one thing she missed most: showers and the feeling of being cleaned. Price to be paid for roughing it and such.

After scrubbing herself at least 3 or 4 times she exited the showers only to find much to her dismay all her cloths except for her panties and bra didn't make it through sterilization. "Are you kidding me?! What the hell am I suppose to wear?!" She growled to her self. Even her hair tie bit the dust. Damnit! That was one of her favorite older shir...aww man... that right there explained it. The shirt was so old and worn out that it couldn't survive being cleaned properly. The same went for the shorts and tie. Sad to say that was the only thing she BROUGHT with her from home cause all that was in all those bags that they found were feminine cloths (including some girlie under stuff she was 1000% sure she DIDN'T own). '_Now what am I going to do? I can't wander around in a freaken towel._' Andrea thought when the door opened suddenly and a voice was heard. "We're terribly sorry about your cloths. We hope these will do." A second later some cloths were tossed in with her. "Nice going Setsuna!" Toriko called in with a laugh. Face flushing she yelled, "Shut up! Not my fault!" Laughter was heard as Toriko continued, "Hurry up and get dressed! I wanna get moving!" '_I'll get dressed alright. I'll take my sweet ass ti-_' She thought, vengeance on her mind when just as the door was about to close Toriko called in, "And don't even think about taking your time!" "Yes Mom." She groused as she put on the cloths. And to think her cloths were bad! These were obviously for men cause the pants were huge around the waist and she was practically drowning in the shirt a bit. Great...just...great. Not having any pins she had to make do with adjusting the shirt and the pants, which had no belt, had to be tied with what was left of the hair tie and tied through the loops. Argh...talk about uncool. Is this how all adventures turn out?

Finally walking out, feeling ridiculous, she said with her face red with embarrassment, "Don't you dare say anything!" Her eyes narrowed as she watched the hunter turn his head away to hide his laughter. Argh! Damn machine! Damn clothes! "W..what happened to your cloths Setsuna?" The chef asked, who flinched lightly when she turned her gaze towards him. "They didn't survive the cleaning. Now I gotta wear these things till I get back." The girl told him, trying not to get mad at him. It wasn't his fault at what happened and she didn't want to take it out on him but the hunter is gonna get it if he continues to snicker at her. "If everyone is done playing around let's go." The afore mentioned hunter said as he walked towards an elevator. She followed as her felt her eyebrow twitching. Yea. He's gonna get it. "U..um Toriko-San..." Komatsu started, looking around the small elevator as it went down. Good thing she wasn't afraid of close spaces. "What kind of person is this chief?" Toriko put his hands on his hips, a slight frown on his face. "N...he's just an ordinary old drunk." What a surprise there. Is it just her or is almost everyone always drinking in one form or another? "B..but he's I a high position isn't he?" "In the IGO, he comes after the president and the vice president. As a matter of fact, he's called the no.3 man." "He's that good?" The girl asked. She had the feeling she should be more impressed but its kinda hard when she didn't know either of the men. "A..amazing! He's even greater than Business Director Uumen!" Was that that fellow from way before? Who knows? Setsuna was never good with names.

"Yes...he's even famous as a militant." Toriko finished. Oh? Just what kind of person is this chief? Glancing over to the chef she noticed that he suddenly looked very nervous. "D..don't be nervous.." He said half to himself. Taking pity on him she ruffled his hair soothingly, which earned her a blush and a flash of jealousy from the hunter at the action. "Relax. I'm sure everything will be fine." Setsuna said, trying to reassure the little man. "It's fine if you feel nervous. It's natural, since you don't know what will attack us in the laboratory." The hunter told them. He still finds it amazing that the girl hasn't shown even the slightest fear in spite of everything. What was she made of? Maybe she's just so laid back that nothing bothers her? "What the heck does that mean?" She asked. "You'll understand when we get there." Like she hasn't heard THOSE words before. They never meant good when used and since they were said by Toriko it must mean their gonna get into another crazy adventure. But...as mentioned before... she'll never get bored when these two were around. A ding was heard and a second later the door opened to reveal a monkey looking animal in a huge glass case being pushed by a men in surgeon outfits. She blinked a bit as Komatsu shouted in surprise and stumbled back, tripping himself a bit. "What in the world is that?" She asked as the hunter got a surprised looked on his face as he said, "Ooooooh. A new species of Battalion Yeti?" That was a yeti?! Damn! Where's a camera when she needs one?! Toriko got a strange look on his face when he said, "Hello. Chain Animals." Chain animals? What were those? The idea she had and the actual knowledge are two different things. Just as Setsuna was about to ask a blood spattered one armed surgeon looking appeared. Part of his hair that was shown covered one of his eyes, revealing a somewhat dead looking eye (at least that what it appeared to her, nothing can be seen reflecting back).

The man said, "Gochisousamades, Toriko-sama. Welcome. The chief is waiting." Then proceeded to show them the way. As they walked, almost every space in the room was filled with animals in glass cases of every size. She didn't even know where to begin to describe them, each one was extremely different from the last. "Hang on, Toriko-san! What on earth is this place?! What are these animals?!" "Think their laboratory animals, Komatsu." The girl told him, frowning slightly. If that was the case then she didn't like it. No animal should be placed in such tight quarters, let alone squeezed in like this place has them. Ugh. As much as the animals were terrifying to look at she wished they were in a somewhat natural environment; that way they can roam around. "I..I've never seen living creatures like these before." Komatsu said as he continued to look around, somewhat nervous. She would be too if she didn't feel so sorry for them. "They're things like clones of extinct species or mixes of fellow animals. They're mostly ones that don't currently exist in the wild. Their artificial new species." "Tch. Playing god is more like it." The girl said, disgust filling her voice. Why doesn't that surprise her? Disgusting bastards. She bet her whole book collection that they just "dispose" these animals once their purpose is done. Toriko gave her a side glance before continuing. "They're nicknamed chain animals. They're here for the great cause of gourmet research to be carried. But for the animals protection and ethical view point, this place is in the research facility but its top secret." "Bullcrap! These poor things are here just to be experimented on and search just for food?! This place is the worst thing I've EVER seen! If it burns I wouldn't miss it at all!" She muttered to herself. Unbeknown to her Toriko caught a bit of what she said and smiled slightly. His feelings exactly. Suddenly someone came rushing from somewhere shouting, "This is bad! The muscle crab has escaped!"

Muscle crab? A split second later a crab on steroids (at least it LOOKED like it was on steroids, the way it looked with all those muscles) chasing at least three more of the workers with one shouting, "Hurry, the anesthesia!" "Wa...wa...wa.." Oh dear. There goes the chef freaking out again. She mused as she continued to watch the scene. If he continues going on trips like this he's gonna have a heart attack sooner or later. As she glanced over at Toriko she couldn't help but blush as he got ready to jump in the fray. Was his hair always like that? Or does he use some kind of hair gel to get his hair back? Whatever it was she hoped he lost it cause he looked really good with his hair down like that. Ack! There she goes again! Drooling after him like some horny teenager! Ai, ai ,ai. "Well, well. There's no delay. Stay back you two." He told him as he cracked his knuckles. Eyes narrowing in annoyance the girl retorted back, "No. I thought we'd jump in and give a hand." Toriko was about to reply when out of nowhere a giant man appeared and single handedly punched the enormous crab, sending it flying into a nearby wall and knocking it out. What the hell?! "Now!" The newcomer shouted. "Go to sleep! That's what I always say, right?" Lovely. Another weirdo. Not that its a bad thing. She looked him over. The bald man was just as tall as the hunter, with 3 odd looking screw things in his head, chugging a bottle (doesn't take a genius to know what it was), looked just as built if not more then Toriko and had the oddest clothes on. A tank top that was a cameo and a leopard looking pants. And she thought she always dressed odd. At least her cosplays were cute and adorable! The girl noticed the man's arm and for some reason had the feeling it was pan shaped. "The chain animal has been calmed down." He said. Wait a minute...did he shouted something before like... Fry Panch? What exactly the hell is that? As the girl knelt down to help Komatsu up, Toriko, wearing a slight smirk on his face, said, "Unforgiving as usual. Have a little sympathy for the animals. Chief Mansam!" Mansam? Egads.

Mansam burst out into a deep laugh before replying as he clenched his fist in a excited manner, "No matter who your opponent is, to strike with all your power is love right? Eh, Toriko! Welcome..no.." He stopped as he ambled over to the hunter and clasped his hand in a comradely manner. It was QUITE clear he was drunk but thankfully not as drunk as that Jiruo guy. "It's welcome back right?" Mansam gave a slight hiccup. "Already drunk, eh? You drunkard chief!" Toriko told him as the two walked over. Komatsu seemed to be in shock at the man's size and physique. The men here seem to come in all different sizes, mostly large or extra large at the moment save Komatsu. All of which was making her measly 5'6 is shorter then it was already. How depressing. "You're always drinking in this basement. What's it like when you occasionally go out to town, chief?" Toriko asked, that smirk still on his lips. Why does she get the feeling there's more to that smirk then meets the eye? The comment earned another deep booming laugh. "Nowhere's as stimulating as this place! That's right! Have you seen the coliseum in a while, Toriko?" The jolly man asked. Coliseum? Like what the Romans had? Toriko was silent for a second before answering, "Not yet. What sorta thing is happening there?" "Today there's a match to be seen!" The chief said excitedly. Not that its any of her business but how long are they gonna do the brotherly or whatever hand shake? Its been while over 3 minutes and she's never seen men do it that long. "Who's fighting?" Mansam got a smug look on his face as he answered, "The battle wolf!" Battle wolf? Whatever that was got the hunter's attention cause the next thing she knew the group was headed down a long corridor with a really bright exit. From the sounds of it a fight was going on and the cheering was getting louder by the minute. The girl blinked in shock as the group stepped out into the opening. Wow! The place was packed to the max! And so loud! She resisted wincing, all the loud cheering was hurting her ears a bit.

"Ooooh, it's going, it's going!" The chief shouted excitedly. Toriko had his hands in his pockets as he surveyed the crowed. Nothing really changed much here. "What is this place?!" Komatsu asked surprise. Its kinda obvious but it wasn't like anything she's seen before. "The Gourmet coliseum! An arena with the purpose of measuring wild beasts fighting strengths and capture levels. But its real purpose is for the powerful or rich men as simply a place for hobby." "Tch. Should of known. This fits as something only the rich would do." She again muttered to herself. It made her think of an anime back home; a place for blood and guts with unthinkable amounts of money being poured in to see who lives or dies. Ugh. She feels disgusting just by being here. On a brighter note at least the cloths haven't fallen off her. (Down side is that she was forced to leave her taser and a small pocket knife back at the entrance but unbeknown to the men she took the knife back hehehehe). The chief gave another bellow laugh as he said to him, "You're giving it a bad reputation Toriko! But really that's the target!" "Well duh! Whatever gave that away?" She growled, earning looks from the men. Mansam laughed at that. "A woman with attitude! I like that!" Looking at the arena itself she saw a galala gator and a troll kong were fighting. Ah man she can't look at the fight, knowing what it was being used for. She turned away and blinked a bit when Toriko ruffled her hair. Setsuna looked up and saw him give a knowing and reassuring smile. Blushing lightly the girl turned away. Really now. At least he felt her sentiments towards this disgusting place. A slam was heard from the arena and Komatsu said in disbelief, "Its beating the troll kong!" "Though the capture level of the troll kong is higher, it already used its stamina fighting the other beasts." Toriko told him simply.

Agh. Just hearing the shouts and roars of pain was making her queasy. At the moment she really wished she didn't come. A sicking smack and a thud was heard a moment later. Guess that ends this fight. "Oooh, precisely at the place of its brain! As expected of the troll kong's power! Even with the galala croc's small brain, it caused cerebral concussion!" Toriko said, eyes appearing glued to the fight. When he was looking at the girl he couldn't help but noticed how baggy the shirt was and from a certain angle one could see down into it. Better not mention that lest she take it wrong. He wonders just how she will kick his ass but that's for another time. The troll kong pounded its chest in triumph as the crowed went wild. The jolly man gave yet another laugh before he said, "As expected of the troll kong! There was no surprise! Well, that at least sets their places. The capture levels are even accurate! Eh, Toriko!" That's it. She couldn't take any more and snapped at the chief, "There is a difference, you drunkard! The way these damn battles and fights are going most of the contenders aren't even in top shape! So how the fuck can you even GET a proper reading?! Let alone the so called accurate capture levels?!" "Eh? Well...it depends.." Mansam started before she continued, "Depends on what?! What?!" "More than that," Toriko started, cutting her off and gently pushing her to his other side away from the chief. Last thing he wanted was a spectacle and the girl was already getting wound up from this place and from a whole set of different reasons. That and this really wasn't the place to see her snap at the chief, despite how cute she was getting. (Although he has to admit, when was the last time someone yelled at him like that?) "is a battle wolf really going to appear here, chief?"

At that the chief spread his arms wide, showing the lot in front of them. "Do you think its a lie, looking at this sold out crowed of customers?! Now let's prepare your special seats Toriko!" Toriko bit back a laugh as he heard the girl next to him mutter darkly about something. He'd have to ask her what she said later although he kinda wished he had Zebra's ears. "But isn't this place always sold out..." The hunter commented as the group followed the chief down some stairs, walking past the rich people. Tch. She hopes they all choke or something. Mansam gave another laugh before answering, "I guess so! But today is especially hot, isn't it?" Komatsu said nothing as they continued to walk down. As they did she couldn't help but notice people noticing them. Well, the hunter and that loud mouth chief anyway. "But I heard people generally can't get into the research facility. So this place, the coliseum, is different.." Komatsu said. That's right. They said so right from the beginning! Wait...didn't he also mention that these assholes...rich people... had the money? "Hey, hey Komatsu! Take a good look at the crowed!" The chef took a moment to really look at them before saying, "These people...there... I feel like I've seen them before." "Of course. The customers of this place are mostly presidents of every country and famous wealthy. Gourmet mania is only for the wealthy." Toriko told him. If its like that then that means most of the people can't afford some of the special items or whatever. "The IGO, International Gourmet Organization, has gone past its foundations as a united nations specialized agency. That's due to the great demand for gourmet ingredients that it's become a huge organization. Nowadays its grown into a gigantic independent organization. The current number of member nations is 360, even exceeding the member-nation count of the united nations. A lot of the people here are all the IGO member-nations VIPs. Now, because they want to see this coliseum, country heads joining in the IGO are here." Most of that she didn't quite understand the meaning of some of that but she was pretty sure she just wanted an explanation on what the IGO was; and she got it.

Mansam laughed as he said, "With only that, this place has a thrilling fascination, doesn't it? You can't stop with seeing just one wild beast battle! Its poisoning! Now this place has been established as officially the place to let out stress for rich men!" Well, that one part she can agree on. This place is like a poison and not the addicting kind. The atmosphere alone was making her feel sick and the fact that knowing these disgusting people were here to make money and such is no better than the cockfights and such back home. "And gambling is also done here." The chief said with a grin. Ooooooh big surprise there! Tell her something new fool! "An enormous amount of money gets moved in one day. Particularly today." Again. Tell her something she didn't know. When she gets back she's burning these cloths! "Ah! Right! Sorry about the mishap with your cloths Setsuna! They were the only ones that we had on hand." She blinked a bit at that. When did she introduce herself? Or were they keeping taps on people? "It's no problem. The shirt I had was about 10 years old anyway and was on its last leg." The man laughed at that as he sat down in some very luxurious seats. Egads! This was the special seat?! They were practically in front of the battle dome thing! '_Ai, ai, ai. I really should of stayed at the gate._' She thought with a groan as she made sure to put Toriko and Komatsu between her and the chief. Hope the restrooms were nearby... The sound of gates being drew her attention and nearly gasped at the sight. The beast before them was a mixture of a dinosaur and an elephant. With the tusks on either side of a very long neck attached to a huge brown/gray body. "What's that?" She asked, curiously. "Elephantsaurus!" The announcer shouted as the next gate opened up to reveal a walrus shaped animal with the stripes and teeth of a tiger with huge tucks that nearly touched the ground. "From the second gate is the amphibious devil! Gauchi!" A chuckle was heard from the other side of her. "Looks like the contestants got her attention." The chief said. The girl bit back a growl before replying, "I'm just curious. I've never seen anything like these creatures before!" The third gate revealed a troll kong's boss and the fourth gate popped out a large three headed bird that for some reason reminded her of a pokemon. What was that bird called in that?

"A..amazing! They're all famous wild beasts!" Komatsu went, putting his hands on the glass as they watched the animals walk up to each other, growling and snarling, ready for a fight. Fight...she felt her stomach drop and turn away. "They're the usual matches, the most popular wild beasts, as always but what today's customers came for are the wild beasts in gates 6 and 7." The chief got that excited look in his eyes as he finished, "The battle wolf and the devil serpent!" Oh no! Not that thing again! At least its on the OTHER side of the glass! Toriko smirked as he said, "Heh..the two animals that were said to compete for the strongest position in ancient times?" The hunter crossed his arms over his chest as he continued. "A match won't be interesting, though. Its said that the battle wolf is nearly extinct in the wild. Though it should be fun to see one." The jolly man laughed. Argh! Doesn't he STOP laughing or is it just the booze making him do that?! Better be the booze... "In a fight between you and a battle wolf I don't know who'd win!" Say what?! Toriko wouldn't fight something that he wouldn't eat! As long as she has been here she has never EVER seen this man kill for sport! She watched as the said hunter's face took on a bittersweet sad look as he said, "I wonder... the strongest wolf has great pride.." '_Toriko...? I wonder what's wrong. I've never seen such a look on him before._' Setsuna thought, she felt a twinge in her heart. That this happy go lucky man would have such an expression on his face. She wondered what happened in the past to earn that look. She wasn't aware she was staring at him until he looked her way and gave her a grin. Blushing deeply she quickly turned away. "We've kept you waiting! The fifth gate is opening!" The announcer said as the gate indeed was opening. That seemed to get Toriko's attention and the announcer continued. "Finally! The Gourmet Coliseum is proud to have for the first time!" As they group watched the most magnificent beast stepped out. She tuned out what the guy was saying as she stared in awe at the wolf. The wolf was bigger then the others, its fur the color of fresh snow (she didn't even know that could be applied to anything until now), the aura it was giving off was indeed fearsome and the proud way it was moving gracefully onto the field told her that it had incredible power. Toriko stood up abruptly. "Aw..awesome.. this is the battle wolf?!"

Wow! For him to be in such a state then that must mean this beast was truly something special. Without warning the voice said, **_'Once, in deep ancient times, there was a birth by mutation of a super-giant herbivorous beast, Death core. That grotesque form certainly was an incarnation of the form of the devil as it was appropriately called. It spanned 50 meters and weighed 200 tons. With the devil's inexhaustible appetite it would devour the forest of an entire continent. That scene was the announcement of the end of this age. The collision of a gigantic asteroid..large scale volcanic eruption...climate fluctuations. Repeating from ancient times. Though the mass extinction of animals had a different cause. By one certain species of herbivorous beast. The crisis of the mass extinction of animals. With their numbers increasing, the scale the devil devoured forests already couldn't compare to your, mankind's, current speed of deforestation for lumber, from continent to continent, in doing so, the earth became a desert instantly. The devils, with their demand for forests to feed on, migrated. After their walk, there was no indication of life. The devil, step by step, certainly carved the countdown to living thing's extinction. Even crossing the sea, they finally reached the land, this world's largest continent. On one side there was an overgrown forest, a paradise of greenery. However, the devils did not get one bite of that forest. Their forms disappeared from this world. Its said that it wasn't anything other than bad luck, the place they landed on was a certain animal's territory. Some kind of giant carnivore, without being in large numbers. The devils in that place, were brought to extinction. At that time the continent was controlled by a young wolf. That was kind of long winded wasn't it?3 Hope your having fun! See you soon!' _**_'Whoever I killed in my past life to deserve this kind of thing they better be worth it.'_ The girl thought. She was REALLY getting sick of that voice! The others already don't believe her about its existence and like hell she's gonna bring it up again!

Wonder if that story was true.. she mused as she watched the beautiful wold in front strode out from its gates, its appearance seemed to have quite shaken the other beasts. "A..amazing..this is the battle wolf?! Doesn't give you the goosebumps? What a presence." Toriko said, watching the animal move further into the field. "I have to agree with you on that one. What a beautiful presence! I have never seen anything or ANYONE with this much presence before!" Setsuna said honestly. People have been known to KILL for this kind of presence! "There's...there's somehow a wolf this huge.." Mansam watched on in pride. "In the distant past it brought the evil beast, the death core, to extinction. From there we were unexpectedly able to collect DNA from the original and reconstruct the battle wolf as a clone!" Hmph! Clone or not its NOT the original wolf! Guess what the voice said was true and why did she get the impression she heard a "hey!" somewhere? "Body length 18 meters. Body weight 11 tons. The battle wolf's way of life is still a mystery but it probably has the greatest size among its kind. At the very least, that creature stopped that mass extinction crisis. Its certainly taken over the talent and skill of the legendary king!" The chief finished saying. Toriko, who never took his eyes off the battlefield, said, "For the deep emotion there are no words to say. Look, the others.." '_Their all shaking. It won't be much of a match._' The hunter thought to himself as he continued to look on. The chief went hmph and got a phone out and said into it, "Rin! Please send more of the odor!" Odor? **_'On the island where fighting never ends, battle island. The flower that blooms there is the only one that does so is called battle flower! This flower's smell affects animals central nerves making their mind violent. It has the effect of stimulating them. Also, the body's motion is temporarily boosted. From this its been called by the nickname the doping flower . If extract of those flower petals is concentrated battle fragrance. In the coliseum it is indispensable.'_**_'Where did that come from? Oh great! Is something going to happen?!'_ She mentally asked but it was too late, the voice had already left. Was it her imagination or was it getting friendlier?

"Oh.. they've started preparing for battle." Toriko said. "How are the odds?" The chief asked, taking another drink from yet another bottle. A board flickered on and showed the names of the beasts out there and the odds. The lowest odd being the battle wolf while the highest was the silverback. Argh! She didn't know if that was good or bad! "As I thought, the most popular is the battle wolf! Even though the devil serpent hasn't come out yet, times 2.2, its the popularity you'd expect." The chief said with a grin. Without warning all the beasts charged at the battle wolf, who merely stood there as they attacked. "Ah! Their ganging up on her!" The girl said as she watched. "They put all their energy into attacking the battle wolf!" Komatsu cried out as the hunter said, "So what's going to happen? The king's real power.." Agh! Don't care! She can't watch and quickly covered her eyes. Too bad she couldn't block out the sound as well. "What!?" Toriko said in surprised. Does she want to know? Peeking cautiously threw her fingers she saw to her amazement that the wolf wasn't making any attempt to stop the onslaught of attacks. What was going on? Removing her hands she stared more at the beast. Something's off...no... something was wrong. The air that the wolf was giving off wasn't for fighting, it was as if it was tolerating the attacks. Suddenly she noticed that it was slightly rounded in the stomach area. It was pregnant? Holy crap it was pregnant and it was in a middle of a fight! "Its appearance is odd chief! That battle wolf..." Toriko started, looking even more closely at the animal before suddenly asking, "Chief...is that female?" The question threw the chief off but he answered anyway. "Yeah.. its a female?" "Toriko! That wolf! I think she's pregnant!" The girl told him just as he quickly took off. Did he even hear her? Suddenly money seemed to rain from the sky. On a good day it wouldn't be a bad thing. Guess it was because of the battle wolf? "Wh..what's this?! So much money! Is...is this because of what the battle wolf is doing?" Komatsua asked as he turned to look at the others only to discover the hunter was gone.

"Where'd Toriko-san go?" He asked. "Down there." Setsuna said simply, pointing to the arena. The chef turned just in time to see the hunter take out the walrus thing. Oh dear. Now what's going to happen? The whole stadium has gone quiet and everyone was staring in shock at the sight before them. '_He better come out of it alright or so help._' The girl groused to herself, watching to see what he will do next. Drat! She couldn't hear a thing Toriko was saying to the wolf! Wonder if there was a way to get down there? Just as suddenly as before the crowed erupted into a roar that was louder then before. Cheering and exclaiming Toriko was there and such. She gaped in amazement as the board added Toriko to the list of combatants. "Why is his name up there?! Like hell he's gonna do anything!" The girl growled as she desperately tried to find a way to get to him. She glanced over to the dome and almost laughed. Of course he'd make his own way in! For in the dome was a huge hole leading all the way to inside the battle ground. Should of known he'd do that. Glancing over to the chief she noticed his eyes bugged out pretty good at that sight. Guess it was suppose to be unbreakable. The animal he hit before slowly, shakily got back up from a 2 hitter from the man. She blinked as the hunter threw out his intimidation at the animal along with the others which shook in fear and took off fast save the battle wolf, which calmly stood her ground. Speaking of which, she quickly made her way to the opening. From the looks of it she's going to be giving birth soon if not sooner! Wonder if her two hands can help? "Chief! Suspend the match!" Toriko shouted to the chief, who blinked a bit. "The battle wolf can't fight! Tell Rin to calm the beasts down!" Rin? Who's Rin? A flash of jealousy went through her. Ook what the hell was that for? Without warning the wolf suddenly collapsed, laying on its side. Its relaxing? No! It's closer to giving then what she thought! Argh! The only medical classes she took didn't talk about how to deliver babies let alone cubs! She noticed that something was about to attack the hunter and called out. "Toriko! Behind you!" The hunter quickly threw his hands up and caught the blow, which caused him to grunt with the effort. "You're an annoyance monkey!" Toriko shouted at it as he punched it in the gut.

Well, that takes care of one but the others. Why are they still rearing to go? Didn't the hunter tell that chief to tell whoever to calm them down?! "Setsuna stay where you are." The hunter called over to her just as she was about to enter the field. What a foolish move. Brave but foolish. At the moment its not safe for her or anyone else sides him to be in here. To the battle wolf he said, "It's a blessing. Its alright to give birth with a peace of mind. At any rate, leave these guys to me and thus becoming a show for that human audience. For one as proud as you, its a stubborn disgrace right?" Glancing over to the girl worrying by the hole he made he added as an after thought. "In case by some chance that girl gets over here and tries to help, I don't suppose you can tolerate it? She means well and there isn't anything in this world that will get her to harm your child. Hell, chances are good that she'd offer herself up as food to one of these guys before she lets anything happen to it." Turning his attention back the others he finished by saying, "I'll remove both of them at once. Together with a celebratory fireworks." The girl was trifled annoyed with what he said but she wouldn't deny it but yet again. The wolf was a proud one and she doubt that it'll accept any kind of help she gave gracefully. She watched as the elephant monster charged at the hunter full speed and blinked in amazement when they hunter caught it by the tusks. His face turned demonic for a moment before easily throwing the beast towards the dome. Oh shit... ooooh shit! The girl scrambled around to find some sort of cover for what was about to happen. "Don't move an inch from that spot!" Toriko shouted to her once the beast hit, causing a huge dent with huge cracks in the glass to form. The hunter rushed over and leaped into the air. "Sorry chief. You'll need to close the coliseum for a little while." Ooooooh boy! "St...stop it Torikoooooo!" The chief was heard shouting just as the giant hunter did a 5 nail punch to the glass, successfully breaking it through to the people. As the glass shattered and chunks were falling the audience sat there in shock until the hunter called out, "Hey! The wild beasts are getting out-! Run away!"

She couldn't help but burst out laughing as the people ran away like frighten chickens. Maybe it was a GOOD thing she came along! Otherwise she'd have missed out on this! This has to be the funniest thing she's ever seen! Toriko thought so as well cause he was also laughing pretty hard as he continued to say, "Run away! Run away!" "Toriko-san! Setsuna-chan!" Komatsu shouted at the two. What did she do? Laughing still, Toriko said, "Look Komatsu! Setsuna! The bright sparkling is pretty eh?! They're celebratory fireworks!" The girl walked over of the now useless hole to see indeed that the sparkling pieces and such looked like very pretty fireworks. "For the new legendary battle wolf's birth." The hunter finished as he looked over to see the new born and mother bonding. She smiled softly at the sight. Guess she wasn't needed after all. "Welcome to the gourmet age." Toriko told the pup as he watched on. **_'Super Relaxation Fragrance. A fragrance coming the concentrated tranquility pheromones from the body of the most pacifistic animal in the world. The nikoniko manatee. In the mating and breeding seasons when raising its children and things, it has the effect of being able to relax nervous animals. Humans also have adapted it for the use of animal_ therapy.'**Shit! The girl quickly glanced around nervously. What else is coming? The voice wouldn't of said that if something big wasn't coming. "What is it Andrea?" Toriko asked, getting a whiff of nerves coming from her. "Something's coming. Not sure what." She said honestly. That's all she knew. That and even without the voice saying anything she felt something was coming. It wasn't as bad as it was in the cave but its big.

Ok! I'll have the next part out soon! The results from the question I asked is a landslide. Sani won without so much as a protest. Kinda figured that group would win but ah well. Thanks for your support and please keep enjoying this series3


	9. Battle wolf Part 2

The girl blinked when she heard that weird "Fry Panch" saying and turned just in time to see that pokemon bird go flying past them. "Oh my..." She muttered as she watched the bird skittered across the dirt. "But I was surprised." Mansam said as he cracked his knuckles. "That a clone was able to give birth." His eyes narrowed as he finished. "Is this the work of gourmet cells?" Gourmet cells? What are those? At the moment Setsuna didn't care. She couldn't help but watch how soft the hunter's face was as he watched the mother and child. For some reason both his expression and the sight made her heart soften very much. The wolf appeared to be very exhausted. Is it due to the birth? No...maybe it has something to do with the cloning? Suddenly a loud banging was heard from the last gate. She and the hunter both turned in time to see the gate get crashed...no...bowled over by a devil serpent. "You've gotta be kidding me?!" The girl said, trying not to freak out. Toriko, who had the "not this guy again look", said as he scratched his chin. "Awww...Not this guy again. How troublesome. If only Coco were here..." Expression and the action would be adorable due to the childlike appearance it gave him but now was DEFINITELY not the time! "Andrea...it hasn't noticed you yet." Toriko started as the beast quickly grabbed the bird and walrus and proceeded to eat them whole. The troll kong seemed to wake up from the attack Toriko gave it, saw it, and quickly ran away until it got sparred by the serpent's long tongue. She gulped a bit and nodded. "Don't need to finish that." The girl said as she quickly rushed back to the hole.

As she quickly rushed over to where Komatsu was she noticed that he didn't attempt to run away. "It's even more ferocious than the one from the cave." The chef said with a nervous. "Komatsu, you're not running away this time?" Mansam asked as if he just noticed him. "Eh? Y..yea.. Having been on trips with Toriko-san and Setsuna so many times that somehow..its almost always like this, I've gotten used to it. (Although I did die that one time)." The jolly man laughed hard that as he said, "That guy's got some nice bravery! Even with the tops of every nation in this state!" The chef looked over at the girl and said, "You've been on the same trips as me yet you've never shown any fear and never tried to run away." "I'm not a runner." That statement earned her confused looks from the men. "W..what does that mean?" Setsuna grinned as she replied, "I can't run to save my life. Sure I can run a few yards or once in a while a mile but when it comes down to running I can't. So I figured if I'm going down I'm gonna go how I want." The chief laughed harder at that. "Damn! This girl's got some balls on her!" "R..really..?" Komatsu went as the chief said as he turned around to see the masses running away, "Look! In their own countries they have nuclear weapons, that all of them are unarmed is a deplorable thing! Well, in this situation, even if they brought a missile or something, running away would be wise!" Mansam gave another booming laughing before continuing, looking at the giant hole the hunter created. "But that Toriko would destroy this reinforced acrylic plate, even I didn't think would happen. Since the old days, he's certainly powered up, that kid. Is eating delicious food proof?" Suddenly he stopped, as if noticing something again and looked in a direction. She followed his gaze and saw a man with busy black hair and beard wearing a turban and robes, sitting as still as he can be.

Didn't he know he was in danger? A shiver went down her back. No...something is wrong. Something isn't right with him. The girl watched as the chief walked over and began to talk to him. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed that the battle wolf has its attention on high which meant that something was coming. Without warning the man suddenly slammed his hand threw the chief's stomach and out the other side. She bit back a scream as she watched as the chef seemed to noticed and said, " ?!" The chief's arm bulged as he went, "Fry Panch!" and punched the guy quite a few feet away from him. The smoke and debris was floating all around them as Mansam said, cracking his knuckles, "The rumored new model? It already slipped in with them?" Watching in shock as the being in the dust cloud stood up and threw its face away. '_I think I'm gonna be sick._' The girl thought as she averted her eyes away from the face mask. As the smoke cleared it revealed the same creature that they saw in the cave but this time it was smaller but still as bulky with the only difference is that it didn't have the same feel as it did back there. "That guy is!" The boys said at the same time. They JUST noticed it was something similar as the one before? The battle wolf mother slowly stood up and looked over in their direction. The air around the chief seemed to grow dark and menacing as he said to it, "Just one machine..? You've got guts. Lets start dismantling to tiny pieces."

How the hell can that man talk so calmly when he has a bleeding stomach?! If she didn't know any better she'd say he was rearing for a fight. "That you could successfully sneak in here one could say you have great ability or that you're a fool. That one especially valuable machine sample was given as a present, we're thankful. The bishoku-kai." What the heck is that? She glanced over at Toriko, who seemed to be trying to figure out who this guy was. Hopefully he'll catch on that this one is different than the one before. Suddenly she had the over whelming feeling to move out of there. But if she did what about Komatsu..? "Who's the operator? Hm? You can speak audibly right? What's your objective?" The thing was silent for a moment before a creepy voice replied, "Chief... you look delicious." "What's that? ...Bastard... its Bei isn't it!" The chief asked just as Bei suddenly surged forward and grabbed the man by the arms, digging in its fingers. ""Ah, knocking? But it's too bad, I'm not there." The muscles in his arms quadrupled in size, clenched his fists and slammed both hands into the thing's head while saying, "Frypan sandwich!" The attack didn't effect it at all with little to no damage. What is that thing made of?

"Hmm...sure is hard." Was all Mansam said right as the machine opened it's head and shoot some sort of laser beam threw the chief's neck, the force of the attack threw the chief far away from them. "Chief!" The girl said as she covered herself from the debris the attacked stirred up. She heard Komatsu yell as she turned to see the serpent had finished eating the other beasts. Crap! Her eyes widen in shock as the mother battle wolf stood up shakily, proceeding towards the devil serpent. It has the energy left to spare, even after giving birth? The hunter and the girl watched in amazement as the serpent started to attack only to lose two limbs in an attack that was too fast to be seen. Whoa... Extremely impressive! Tall about speed and power! Without really thinking about it she went back to the hole Toriko made to get a better look and by the time she reached it the fight was already over. It only took a few seconds?! Suddenly the wolf appeared to be standing solely on willpower. Of course...only just giving birth then forced to fight would drain her of her strength. Cautiously she made her way over to the hunter and pup. Setsuna made it over in time to hear Toriko talk to the pup. A soft blush appeared as the girl noticed the softest look she had ever seen on his face has he talked to the little wolf. Whoa...if used wrong that look could wreck a girl. "Go ahead. By pouring in all the life she had, she gave birth to you."

The pup seemed to be listening and understood everything he was saying. "You can be a dependent child to your mother. This is your last. Go to her." The pup seemed to hesitant, as if unsure. Smiling as she walked up she told her (at least she hoped the pup was a female cause like hell is she gonna check), "He's right. You don't have much time. Go make some memories with your mother. The last thing needed is regrets." The pup looked at her for a moment before running towards her mother. Good. Setsuna blinked when the hunter chuckled a bit and turned to look at him. "What?" "Nothing. Just thought you looked cute there for a second." Fighting a blush back she grumbled at him. "Like you should talk." Toriko chuckled again as the two watched the pup run. Without warning a shot came from out of nowhere, shooting right through the battle wolf. The girl covered her mouth in shock as both pup and Toriko stared in shock as well before laughter was heard coming from the large hole. Both turned to see the robot laughing as it said, "That one doesn't have the will to eat. Things that seem disgusting are not needed. Die!" Fury filled her entire being at that. How DARE it do that to the battle wolf! "Sense YOUR disgusting why don't YOU crawl in a hole somewhere and DIE, you sick son of a..!" Suddenly she noticed the dark look the large hunter had on his face, making her shiver slightly. Good. Since she can't any real harm to it herself this is one battle she'll gladly let the hunter take over. The girl hoped he'd make that bastard suffer for what he did. Glancing over to the mother battle wolf as she slowly made her way to the pup and proceeded to groom her. Biting back tears she watched the touching scene, doing her best to ignore that disgusting laughter from above.

The laughter stopped when the machine noticed the touching scene. "Ha? What are you doing? I don't understand it." "Nor do you need to, you disgusting fuck! This is something that is beyond your pathetic little scope that you call a brain!" Setsuna snarled at it. When and if she found that bastard's real body she;ll HAPPILY use all the torture techniques on him to make him suffer for every moment of pain the mother battle wold was in. "Shut your mouth! Hurry up! And drop dead, you dog!" The thing said as it prepared for another attack. That twisted son of a... suddenly her vision was clouded as smoke seemed to appear out of nowhere. What the heck was that?! "Ah? What?!" The machine as a female voice said, "It's something in this situation you can't read well. Endorphin smoke. For the time being, I had to fire it." Endorphin? Ah! Smart thinking! That way the wolf wouldn't feel much pain as she spent her last moments with her child. The smoke cleared enough to reveal a young woman with short black cropped hair (even the women here are taller though she didn't appear to be much taller then her) wearing a black kimono like outfit with some sort of machine on her arm that was smoking a bit (guess that explains where the smoke came from) and wore knee high black boots. Looking back at the mother and child she realized it wasn't for the mother but for the child. It appeared even more relaxed and ease, doing her best to show her affection to her mother. It appeared to be working on her as well, as time passes she felt more and more relaxed, the anger and rage she felt was seeming to melt away. Shivers went threw her body as she sensed tremendous rage near by. She didn't even have to look to know who it was cause it could only be one person: Toriko. From the look on the girl's face told her that the smoke wasn't even affecting him in the slightest and was extremely mad. Must be a first for her as well. (Though in her opinion he seemed kinda...hot when mad though she'll NEVER admit that aloud)

"Andrea. Rin." Toriko said to them. She already knew what he was going to ask. "Look after the battle wolf. I'm counting on you." Rin blushed as she replied happily (one of those girls eh? the ones that most annoy people), "Yeah! Leave it to me!" Chuckling a bit she told him, "You didn't even have to ask. The only thing I'M gonna ask is that you mop the floor with that asshole." The hunter bit back a chuckle. Even though he was seriously angry somehow that girl got a chuckle from him. Cracking his knuckles he looked up at the robot. "Now then, though it's usually human, it was a GT Robot?" What's a GT robot? Ah who cares! His look darkening even more as he continued. "What's really made me mad... Hey, Anteater face over there." The machine looked around for a moment as if confused while saying, "What? Who is that..?" Within a span of a heartbeat Toriko was up by him (it better be a male), grabbed the thing by his shirt and said, "It's you!" The thing quickly opened its mouth to attack but Toriko nailed it with a punch first and sent the machine flying across the stadium, making it land even further from the dome, which the hunter stood on. Once it landed it quickly stood up and ripped off the remaining garment. "Toriko of the four heavenly kings! You sure are audacious! You look the most disgusting of all, sickening! Kill...! I'll kill you!" It snarled at Toriko, who a look of murderous rage. "This time it isn't capture. It's extermination!" She couldn't agree more! It took her a few moments but she saw Komatsu watching in amazement as the two continued the exchange. She could hear the damn machine due to it speaking so loudly (not to mention it grated on the nerves) she just wished she could what Toriko was saying. "GT ROBOT!" The hunter shouted as he leaped from the glass ledge. "Take this!" He finished as he punched the thing again. Talk about power!

She continued to watch him rain punches on the machine. The last punch sent it flying away from him a bit. Toriko looked like he was panting hard. Just how hard was that damn thing? **_'Titanium dioxide with slight carbon. It means that his body is a titanium alloy combined with carbon_ fiber.'**The girl chuckled slightly to herself. For once she was quite glad of the explanation for once. It suddenly shouted, "Peeler shot!" Something was thrown at the hunter, who stood there for a moment as his arm got gouged a bit. Oooh snap! The thing laughed hard as it said, "Peeler shot shot shot!" And sent more of whatever towards the hunter as he used his arms to block off the worst of the attack. Hope he'll be alright. "Hyyaaaa! Hyaaa! Not a vegetable peeler, a human peeler! I'll shave off your whole body and drag your intestines!" Suddenly it stopped for a moment. "Opps! Almost forgot!" It turned in her direction. What the hell? "Hey, hey! Are you going to get the girl or just stand around?" Say...wha? Without warning something was across her neck and tighten for a moment before she was suddenly yanked backwards. A cry of surprise escaped her lips as she was dragged away. her hands immediately flying to her neck to try to get whatever it was off her and dragged her from the smoke and battle wolfs. "Hey!" Rin said as her eyes widen in shocked surprise. Just as suddenly as the ride began it stopped, she groaned a bit and coughed hard, dirt and dust getting in her face. The cloths she had on were ripped (although as baggy as they are she was super glad that they stayed on! Last thing she needed was to be nude!) which were the least of her worries when she was roughly lifted up and pulled close to a huge body. "What took you so long?!" The machine said as the grouped watched in shock as whoever held her had his arm around her neck, choking her. The scoffed and said in annoyance, "Had to wait for a perfect opportunity. Now hurry your ass up so we can get going." "What?! You used me, you bastard!" The machine shouted at him.

She thought her heart was going to stop when Toriko looked over to them with the darkest look she's ever seen and said, "Let her go. Once I'm done with this guy your next." The man chuckled a bit and held her tighter, causing her to gag a bit. "I don't think so. We've been looking for this bitch since she arrived." "Who...are you?! Let me go!" She growled out, trying her best to squirm away from the unforgiving hold he had. He chuckled again as the fight between the hunter and machine resumed. She watched in horror as the hunter tried to use the knife technique on him but it only cost him some flesh. "Andrea! Toriko-san!" Komatsu shouted, panic filling his voice as he whipped his head between the two. '_I better get out of this soon._' Andrea thought as she tried to think of something. '_I'm worrying the boys needlessly and Toriko doesn't need distracts right now! Wait! I got it!_' "I don't think so. Although it would be fun to stay and watch this scene play out my orders are to capture and bring you back alive and unharmed though I don't mind it if you fight a bit. OW! YOU LITTLE BITCH!" The man howled in pain as the knife she got out while he was talking and stabbed him in the leg close to the groin. If memory serves her right if the knife went deep enough and placed in the right spot the bastard should bled to death in minutes, long enough for her to get far away. Though she didn't really want to kill anyone she'd be damned if she was just gonna take a seat back and let someone try to kill her. Sides, they really shouldn't complain anyway. His hold immediately loosen and the girl quickly got free and started running like hell back towards Rin and the others. "If I ever get out of this I swear I'll cook for boys in payment!" She muttered as she ran faster. In the background she could hear the chef shouting her name happily. Leave it to him to worry. She shook her head with a slight smile. God her neck killed like no one would believe. First chance she got Andrea will take a look at it. Wonder how Toriko is faring... Looking up she saw from head to toe he was covered in blood. Her eyes widen as the chef cried out in horror, "Toriko-san!" Much as she wanted to be by the wolf she wanted to be by him more though she wasn't sure how much help she'd be. As she made her way to the opening she was yanked back again. What?! Whatever it was on her neck it was still there! "You stupid bitch! I'll...kill you for that!"

Fucken A! For sure she thought that strike did him in! Argh! She bit back a yelp as she was once again dragged a bit but stopped. Glancing towards the asshole who had her she quickly noticed how weak he was getting. Good! That means he didn't have the strength to pull her all the way to him! Quickly getting up she ran like she never ran before and quickly climbed threw the opening as she quickly dislodged whatever it was off her neck and threw it to the side. She rushed just in time to see Toriko stepping towards that damn bastard. "Operator, are you really controlling that robot? Could it be that's the best of your ability?" Toriko asked it calmly as he continued to walk towards the machine. What is that man up to? "Andrea!" Komatsu said as he rushed over to her and nearly tackled her in a hug. "Are you alright?!" She smiled brightly and nodded. "Yup! I'm a-o-k! Although I can't speak for the bastard who tried to get me. But..." She glanced over to watch the two. "How's he doing?" Mansam walked up and laughed deeply. That damn laugh was getting on her nerves and what happened to that giant hole in his stomach? "He's just fine. Toriko's just about to wrap things up." "Don't pretend to be tough, Toriko! Hurry up, die and disappear, you idiot! Go to hell!" The thing shouted at him. Tch. Even up close his voice was annoying. "Hey Toriko! Can you just finish beating that thing to a pulp already? Got things to do!" She called over to the hunter. "It's just the voice that you can operate. Well, to make the "less than a harmful insect" vulgar high tech robot move would be useless." Toriko said, getting a look of pure confidence on his face. "You could use that childish technique to stroke my skin a thousand times but in a life time, you won't reach life!" The thing got a dark look as the hunter appeared to be readying himself for a final attack. This man sure has some balls on him even after getting sliced to ribbons. "Then...Then I'll kill you right now! Go to that world!" The thing said as its jaws opened up for an attack.

She watched in amazement as Toriko did his 5 nail point in a single concentrated attack right into that thing's mouth. Did he say ice pick attack? The thing went flying back in a cloud of bright light and smoke which forced the group to cover their faces (well two cause the chief didn't look like he was fazed in the slightest). Once it cleared the smoke revealed a headless robot that shook and made a weird "gu gi gu ga" noises. After all that crap is this finally over? She glanced to the side and didn't see that guy follow her into the stadium. "I guess I somehow penetrated it. But your own cannon back firing was too bad. But my left hand got messed up too." Eh?! The girl looked and saw that it was quite messed up; fingers bent in strange ways and appeared to be crushed. How in the world isn't that man in pain?! Or does he feel it yet not letting it get to him? "Can you still hear my voice? For now, that's the match. Stop your engine but let's not meet for review. I can't eat anymore either and this machine doesn't have the energy to fight anymore. Next time, come at me with your real body fair and square! At that time, we'll have a perfect conclusion!" Toriko told the machine as he stood in front of it. "This man and fighting... is he a fighting manic or something?" Andrea said with a slight nervous laugh. She can't think of a single person who loved fighting this much. The thing laughed as it said, "You idiot, there won't be a next time." "So that means you DID find a hole to die in!3" The girl said cheerfully which earned her some looks from the men. "Die as a fellow traveler!" The thing only had time to cross its arms in preparation to do something when the chief yelled out, "Fire!" A second later shots were being fired at that the machine. "Watch out!" Toriko called out as the machine exploded, the force making her back a bit as the chef yelled out as once again Mansam stood calmly unaffected. What is with the men here?!

Placing his hands on hips the chief said, "That GT robo bastard self-destructed, he planned it out. So it seems only the core is running away?" "So then, then the building is okay, chieeef?!" Komatsu called out as he tried not to get blown away. The large man got a grin on his face as he answered, "Don't worry, this place is as sturdy as an average atomic reactor! For example, it's so sturdy that if there were a nuclear explosion in, no radiation would leak outside!" "That's a comforting thought." Andrea said sarcastically as Komatsu looked at him wearily and said, "But then us inside would certainly die." "Yeah." Again why is that man talking like this is nothing new? Perhaps its not or maybe he's just so used to stuff like this that it doesn't affect him anymore? Suddenly a screech was heard and what appeared to be a robot from the transformers popped out. "What the,this is! This is the new model GT Robo's core antenna!?" NOW he's surprised at something. She watched in amazement as the antenna bounced off at super high speed out of there, bouncing along towards the door. "It's ugly!" Komatsu shouted as Mansam shouted, "Shoot that thing!" Shots were fired but it was bouncing around too much to get a proper aim. "A rabbit on steroids." Andrea muttered to herself as it reached the door and left. "Ah! It's going outside chief!" The chef said in a panic. Actually, he wasn't doing so bad if her memory of previous events were correct. Usually he'd be freaking out bad but earlier he did just fine. "Headquarters! What number is the closest exit to there?!" "It's B gate, isn't chief?!" Headquarters said over the announcement. The chief got a smirk on his face as he said, "Ookay, open the hatch in my room! And connect my voice!" What the heck does he have in mind? And why does she get the feeling that the tiny robot wasn't going to make it very far?

She glanced over to see how the mother and child were doing and stopped. The chief's voice and the others didn't reach as she stared at the mother battle, who stood tall and proud with the cold demeanor of a king. Damn this was an interesting species. To have this much dignity even at the end, she envied them quite a lot. Most don't always die with that kind of dignity and should be considered an honor to see such. Looking down the girl watched as Toriko looked up at the battle wolf with the little one standing by. Poor thing. '_I wonder if it's alright to go down by them.'_ The girl mused to herself, debating on if her presence would ruin the moment. Ah what the hell. She wanted to see this through to the end anyway. Quickly racing down there she had some trouble getting threw the hole. '_Argh! Getting dragged all over the ground caused me a lot of damn scratches I don't need!'_ Andrea growled mentally at herself. "Ack!" She grunted out as she landed almost face first. What the hell happened to her strength? Ah right. Running from that asshole plus using everything she had to stab and get took most of it. Looking up to see the little pup lick a bit at her mother's leg tore her heart a bit. "All day is impossible, it would be fine to be together for a little while." Toriko told the pup, who looked at him before tearing off a piece of meat from the dead serpent and brought it over only to drop it at his feet. She blinked a bit at that. Was...it thanking him? Looking down at the meat the hunter said, "Meat from the devil serpent as thanks?" Kneeling down so he was at eye level with the pup he continued. "Let me say one thing, I didn't fight to save your mother. It was self-centered, I just beat up that guy because he pissed me off." She snorted a bit as she remembered exactly WHY he got pissed in the first [lace.

"You eat that meat. Okay..?" For a moment the hunter's face got stern. "For now on, you have to live strong for your mother's part too. As a being selected with gourmet cells." Gourmet cells? What are those? The pup looked a bit nervous. Immediately her heart went out to her. She couldn't blame her one bit, as she was basically lost in this jungle of a world as well. Toriko's face soften as he continued, "Nervous?" The hunter reached a hand out towards the pup and gently stroked the fur on her face as his look went even softer. "Don't worry." He started as he continued to pet her. "I was originally a chain animal too. I fought here countless times. You're the same as me. You're not alone." Blinking tears back Andrea didn't know she was about to shed she quickly looked away from the touching scene. This man, he's more than meets the eye. Suddenly she wanted to get to know him even better and get close to him. She gritted her teeth a bit. '_I can't._' The girl thought, feeling slightly bitter for some reason. '_I can't let myself get too close to him. I won't let myself hurt get hurt by him or let myself hurt him. Friends. I must remain friends with him._' Taking the moment to steal a quick look around she saw the girl and Komatsu stare in awe at the two. After quieting herself she looked back in time to see the pup melt and nuzzle her head against Toriko's. "What is it?" Chuckling a bit he continued, "It feels nice.. your fur...completely.. it's as thick as a toweling. Yes... you are Terry...Terry cloth." She smiled gently at the sight as the two continued to bond. Rin walked over and put her hands on her hips, standing in a defending posture. "Who are you?! What is your relationship to Toriko?!" "Eh?" Was all she got to say before Rin continued. "Your not going to steal him from me!" Ooook then. Holding her hands up she replied, "Just friends. My goodness! Are you his girlfriend or something?" That seemed to sent her into a tizzy. "G..girlfriend..?! I...he..." Guess that's a no.

**After the fight  
**

"How the hell can ANYONE eat this insane amount of food?!" Andrea exclaimed as she stared at an already huge table which, if she had to guess, could easily fit at least 500 people or so. She still couldn't get over how much food there was and there were carts STILL coming out with more food! "Wha...what is this feast?! Hang on, an amount like this can't be possible right?!" Komatsu said, just in as much shock as her. "I'm with you on there Komatsu." The chief, once again, laughed heartily, and said, "There still limitless amounts of left, so have seconds without reserve!" Seconds her fat ass! It boggled the mind at the insane amount of food here and still being placed! Before coming to dinner the chief had everyone clean up and wounds (hers) dressed before coming down to eat. The dress she was wearing she wasn't keen on. It was a lovely flowing piece with thick shoulder straps, a cute little bow on the chest and a matching bow on the left hip with matching shoes. It wasn't that the dress was bad, it was quite comfortable even though it wasn't something she'd wear; the problem was that it was pink and felt altogether too girly for her. She greatly missed her nice slacks and nice dress shirts. The hair was still wet from cleaning up so she didn't do anything besides leaving it down. The girl felt her lips twitch as she recalled Komatsu's and Toriko's expressions when she came down, the shocked surprise looks they had on were quite amusing. It wouldn't look that bad except for the bruise mark around her throat, looked like she tried to strangle herself or something. For good and bad reasons, the man who tried to take her was long gone and the blood trail left behind stopped in the middle of nowhere with no other exits. And to top it all off that bastard took her one and only good knife!

Now let's see if she can remember her table manners (her normal ones were pretty much like the ones back home, sloppy, using sleeves sometimes to wipe face, etc) putting a napkin in her lap to protect the dress. (she was definitely sure she was borrowing this outfit and it'll be a cold day in hell before she trashed it. Ok so she wore most of her food big deal) Some of the food stuff here kinda scared her a bit. Does some of that really taste good? The chef, who was seating to her left on the other side of the chief, looked at a cooked dragon with a "oh god" expression and asked, "Isn't that...the ba..bacchus dragon? The super high class ingredient." Toriko already had a plate made as he replied, "The sake paradise, bacchus island's master bacchus dragon. It contains alcohol. That meat has a taste that gives the impression of a mellow brandy, which it is famous..it's the chief's dish!" Oh good grief! Does EVERYTHING on this table have some form of alcohol in it?! She swore off drinking ever since THAT incident back home! At least the hard stuff and only small amounts of sake. At least with that she can keep her head. "Tonight, we're serving my entire full course! " Mansam said merrily has he drank from the biggest tank of booze she's seen yet. "It.. it's just things with alcohol in them! This guy is sure one heck of a heavy drinker! "Sake is unreasonable for me too." The girl, Rin, was sitting on the other side of the table making comments about the course. "Rin, I'm not listening to you!" She thought she heard Rin say, "Y'know, chief's full course is the worst!" "But you can eat the parfait." The chief told her as he continued to drink. On that she couldn't agree more as she stared at the food. Ai, ai, ai. What to do now...to not eat would be rude but to eat would most likely get her wasted and only heaven knew what she'd do wasted! Again!

A chuckle was heard next to her. "They sure are noisy guys. You're the most good at manners it's wise." Toriko said, as he glanced back to Terry, who was sitting far from the table just looking at him. The chief was against him becoming attached to her but whatever. The battle wolf's nature were solitary creatures without a group and would never show favors to anyone. She smiled softly as the hunter called the wolf over to have some dinner together. The pup appeared quite happy and walked over. She chuckled slightly. The sight was really adorable and winced a bit. Her throat would hurt sometimes when she did little stuff like that. Talking was alright but not for long periods of time and small throaty sounds hurt. Tch! When she sees that bastard next time he's gonna be sorry he ever... "How's your neck doing Setsuna?" That got her attention and caused her to look over and see Toriko looking at her concerned. Giving him a grin she nodded. "Yea. Just hurts a bit but it should heal in a few days." A frown creased his forehead a bit as he leaned over to look at her neck, him being so close to her caused a slight blush. For a second Andrea thought he was gonna touch her but for some reason felt disappointed when the hunter resumed his seat and sighed deeply. "I'm sorry." He said, not looking at her. "Eh? For what? For not getting to that jerk in time or whatever? No worries! I can take care of myself pretty good!" Although she wished Rin would stop shouting stay away from him. It only made her sound annoying and quite desperate. That earned her a rumble of a chuckle. "True." "And besides, problem taken care of." She started before he finished. "For now." That gave her pause before slowly nodding. "Yea..." She said. "For now. But on a brighter note we are now aware that people are coming." "Hm." Was all he said before he attacked his food. Guess that's the end of that conversation.

She looked over at the chief and Komatsu and saw that they (or at least, Mansam) was eating happily away as Komatsu cautiously cut into a meat and seemed to love whatever that was. If he was eating that then it must be safe, somehow she got a slice and took a bite. Wow! She didn't know flavors could spread out like that! "A..amazing isn't it Toriko-san!" His eyes almost popped out of his head as he looked over at Toriko's direction. "Eh, WAAAAHHH! Eating so fast!" The chef shouted. What was he talking about it? She just saw him grab a pla...HOLY FRICKEN CRAP! THAT insane pile of empty plates JUST from him in so short of time?! She didn't even finish one! "Oh, isn't that frosted tofu?! I'm eating that next!" She rolled her eyes and was bout to say something when she noticed all the wounds the hunter had were either gone or almost gone. How's that even possible?! Then the girl heard Komatsu mutter something bout how the chief poured some sake on his serious wounds and how fast they healed. Maybe certain foods they eat help heal? Andrea can already feel a headache coming if she went down that road. Gourmet cells... Is that what was responsible for Toriko's strength and other abilities? If so, how'd he get them? Born with it or wha?

"Now that we're here, chief. About the work we have this time." The giant hunter asked as he continued to eat. Mansam, flushed red from drinking, had a confused look on his face before it dawned on him. The sound of the chair falling back made her jump a bit as the chief abruptly stood up. "AAAAHHHHH! I FORGOT!" The bald man bellowed. Damn his yelling was starting to make her ears hurt. "The regal mammoth! This is bad!" Toriko stood up as Mansam continued. "The GT robo guy slipped in here expressly to keep us here!" '_Or me.' _ She thought to herself, trying to block out the yelling. "He causes chaos in here so he would have time to capture the regal mammoth! This is bad! Regal-chan has been crossed over to the bishoukaki's hands..." Regal-chan? Really?


	10. Sani

"It's alright!" Rin said, standing off to the side with her arms crossed, one hand holding an icecream cone. The two men turned in her direction after she got their attention. Taking a lick of her ice cream the tomboy replied, "I've just now gotten contact from onii-chan. It seems he's already on this island." What was he like? She wouldn't even hope for even a hint of normality amoung the people so far other then the hope the guy was at least nice. Rin's statement seemed to startle both Toriko and Mansam. "What?!" Toriko explained as he got a weird look on his face (think it was a mix between shock and surprise) as he asked the woman, "Sani is?! Really Rin?" Rin looked at the hunter before looking away, face blushing red. This girl really had it bad for him, eh? Just hope she wasn't psycho or anything. "What did he say, Rin?" "Oh yeah. He captured the regal mammoth and it seems he's on his way here." Say wha?! Then what was the point of them even coming here?! Was that Sani guy really that strong?!

**Bishokukai 6th Branch  
**

Leaning against a wall, the man watched in disgusted as one of the most ugliest men he's ever seen yell, "Damn you Toriko.. Next time come in your real body?" The ugly troll looking man clenched his fists as he continued. "All right theeeen, I'll personally drag out your organs and trample them to mush!" The long blonde haired man closed his teal-green eyes, brushing a stray hair behind his ear. Really now. It was crude enough the disgusting man wasn't wearing anything but black underwear. Now he's saying impossible things as well. There should be a limit on how crude a person can be. "You would have been dead long ago, Bei." He told the ugly man, which earned him a glare. "Hark-San is right. Right now, do you think you can still beat Toriko?" An older man said as he walked up to the men. The old man wasn't that bad save for the sewed up looking lips and dark cloak. The troll man, Bei, turned and shouted at him, "Shut up Joejoe!" Hark frowned a bit. What a fool. Speaking of fools he watched as the would-be captor limped in, blood dripping all over the place. "And the fool returns." Hark muttered to himself. What a dolt. He couldn't even capture a defenseless girl. "Look." Joejoe began. "You were driving machine number 8.. When you were fighting against the chief and Toriko the "sense of pressure excesses" totaled 16 times. Meaning you would of taken a total of 16 hits that would of been fatal. If it were your real body, you'd have died a long time ago." Bei was silent until he saw the other man. "Haze you bastard! You were suppose to help me get time for the others to get the regal mammoth meat!" Haze barred his teeth at the troll man and hissed. "My job isn't to get time for you bastards! Our purpose is to get the damn bitch and bring her back!" "Yet you failed spectacularly I might add." The blonde man said, opening his eyes to stare at Haze who flinched at the gaze. "She just got me by surprise! It won't happen again, Hark-sama!" The man told him, trying to stop the bleeding. What a boor. This is what happens when you said a human to do a monster's job. Next time he'll go but wait. The Master said he wasn't to expose himself just yet but at the same time he cannot let the chance to get the woman go past. "One more chance. Should you fail just go die." Hark said simply. Haze paled a bit before nodding. The others, who watched the exchange, continued on as if the last sentence wasn't said. "Then what about another robot? With the time I earned, the delicious regal mammoth captured, right?!" Bei shouted, fists still clenched. Ugh. Maybe he WILL go check the girl out. At least she's a fairer sight then this disgusting creature. "All four machines have left for some time but the essential mammoth was not found." Joejoe explained. That shocked the troll man. "What?!" Bei yelped out. Haze left the room already. Good. His scent is disgusting. He was getting bored. How much longer must he sit sit here and cool his heels? "Perhaps the ones who took the first move was our side.." The old man finished.

**~Early morning~**

After getting cloths that properly fitted Setsuna watched the sun rise over the horizon next to a mountain. It was quite pretty. Which it could said more than what was happening to her. The group got up early to greet this Sani guy. Toriko was chowing down on a ridiculously large piece of some kind of beef. "Delicious~ Drunken beef! Oh this is bad!" Toriko said between mouthfuls. She barely ate any dinner the other night cause majority of it had booze in it and much as Setsuna loved deserts she can only eat so much of it. That and Rin seemed to be giving her the evil eye as she ate the food. "This is truly what it means to be drunk on the taste! I'm getting drunk!" Again. And so early too. Just look at that flush look he was getting from the meat. The girl shook her head and bit back a smile as Komatsu said, "He..hey, Toriko-san. Did you really have to bring food all the way outside?" The hunter didn't hear him as Mansam joined n by saying, "See here, let me have some, too!" Toriko sent him a dirty look before replying, "Why you...! Like I'd give you anyway! You drunkard!" The chief continued to take bites off the meat. "Give it to me, you! It was mine to begin with!" She shook her head a bit as the chef watched them in disbelief. "Now boys! If you can't share then I'll have no choice but to take that." She laughed hard at their expressions. Woooow. The look they gave was enough to kill, good thing looks can't. Rin, who was eating more icecream, was looking through some binoculars suddenly called out, "He's here!" Glancing back towards the sunrise Setsuna blinked in shock as the first thing she noticed was a huge beast by far block out the morning rays. Looking closer it appeared it was being carried by someone but it was too big to tell who it was. Komatsu's eyes widen in shock and exclaimed, "Hu..huuuge!" They continued to watch as both figure and mammoth got closer to them. "Tha...so that's the treasured food of the ancient times, regal mammoth! What size!" The chef continued.

The girl blinked a bit as the figure got closer. "Who's that person? It looks like their carrying it just with one hand." A chuckle was heard. "It's not just with one hand, per se." The chief said as he swallowed the piece he was chewing. Not that far ahead of the lone figure a bunch of upright animals appeared ahead of them. Why did those things give her the impression that their reptiles even though they had no scales and had hair on the ridge of their backs? Komatsu's eyes got even bigger in horror as he said, "A swarm of gang hoods!" Setsuna bit back a laugh. Gang hoods? "They're ferocious beasts with a vast appetite! They're planning to seize the regal mammoth!" "No need to worry." Toriko said, standing next to them and holding a much smaller version of the meat. Nodding a bit. "Much as I hate to say it I agree with him." The girl told the chef. "Hey!" Went the hunter as the shorter man blinked a bit and asked, "What does that mean?" Flashing them a grin she replied, "Think about it. Has ANYONE normal showed up so far?" The chef thought for a moment before shaking his head. "Then chances are good this guy can take care of himself in no time flat." '_Just hope his appetite isn't scary like Toriko's._' She thought to herself. Taking a bite out of the meat the hunter said, "Just watch." Just as the beasts were about to attack the man suddenly and without warning they were slammed to the ground, as if some force put them there. What the heck caused that? Are the animals dead? Looking closer, the girl could tell that the animals were still alive due to the shivering. Knocking? But how? That guy didn't even touch them. As the figure got closer the only thing she could tell was that he had the longest hair she's EVER seen. (Pretty sure women would kill for that length) And it appeared the mammoth was FLOATING above his hand rather him holding it. Without warning the mammoth was tossed in their direction only to be caught by the chief, who was forced to bend his knees due to the sheer weight of it. Egads! Up close it was even bigger! Looking back over to see the figure had a really girlish face (more feminine then hers which kinda ticked her off), his hair was a mixture of white, purple, pink, blue and green. The man, Sani, wore purple pants and boots, which started from his ankles and went to his knees, were a dark navy color which matched the the vest he had on over a shirt that matched the pants and wore wrist guards that matched the boots. For some reason she wanted to punch him. Even on her best days she'd never look that good!

"Ah, sorry. Was it a lil' heavy chief?" Sani said as he brought his hand to his face before continuing. "But nice catch!'s expected. It seems that your strength hasn't waned one bit but there's not enough beauty. The way you caught the mammoth, my heart doesn't beat at al' and I got no sense of being moved whats'ever. I mean, you're bowlegged, clumsy, have no sexiness, it sorta gives an impression like "just die already"." What is with this person? Is he obsessed with beauty or something? Scratch that. If his appearance is any indication then chances are he is. This guy better be nice otherwise this will be one long trip. "Hey Sani!" The chief cried out as he strained to hold the mammoth up. "Don't be throwing around the preicous treasure food! You haven't changed at all from before. Why you! You damn bastard!" The girl watched in amazement as Sani seemed to float up to to them. How was that even possible?! Shaking her head to clear Setsuna listened as Sani replied, "Even though I've kindly brought this all the way here to give to you, I'd like to be thanked. Or rather, I don't really want to be called a damned bastard by you, chief." Her lips twitched a bit as she quickly debated on whether to give a smart comment. '_Oh what the hell. He's gonna be traveling with us anyway._' "Then what would you like to be called?" The girl asked cheekily, giving a mischievous grin.

Mansam bit back a chuckle as the hunter felt his lips twitch, the long haired man chose to ignore the comment even though it kinda irritated him. The group watched as Sani appeared to float up and land neatly in front of them. Looking over in Toriko's direction he greeted, "Hey.. long time no see Toriko." Giving the hunter a once over the long haired man continued, "...Hm... Your cells are more vitalized than in the older days. The elasticity of your skin is high as well. It's evident that you're eating good stuff." Eh? He can tell all that from just a glance? Perhaps this guy was in the wrong profession. Toriko got a slight uncomfortable disgust look on his face as he rubbed one side of it. "Hey, hey Sani. Don't go touching my skin all over the place, its uncomfortable." Blinking a bit she looked closer at the hunter and couldn't figure out what the heck he was talking about. '_I don't see a thing. Maybe its an invisible?_' The girl wondered when Rin shouted, "Wait a sec, brother! Like, I don't want you to be touching Torko as you please!" That seemed to shock the pretty man as he whipped his head towards her. "Rin...you.." He started before looking at her and shouting as well. "After not having seen you in a while! 'Hell are these clay pipe-like legs! And the fat under that skin is insane! You're only eating sweet stuff, aren't you!?" Eh?! Wait a sec! Back up! Brother!? This guy is her brother?! They don't seem anything alike! Her too tomboyish and him too feminine! "Like, shut up, and, like, it doesn't have anything to do with you! And, like, I don't want have anything to do with a man-like sister!"

Setsuna stifled a laugh as she continued to watch the two fight. '_I take that back. They ARE brother and sister. Unless their close friends who act like siblings._' The girl mused as she continued to watch as the chef just had a 'what the hell is going on' look. Delicately pointing a finger towards the squabble Komatsu asked, "To..Toriko-san, that person...um... he's not touching anyone or anything like that, is he?" Good question and another one is: how is he touching people or whatever? Toriko, who had his hands on his hips, replied, amusement in his voice, "He's Sani, a king." That surprised the chef a bit. For some reason Setsuna kinda figured him to be something like that if he's in this kind of place. The hunter glanced over to the two as he continued, "All of us are already being touched by his sensor." Mansam had a grin on his face (what was so funny?) and said to them, "Excluding one." Now what could he mean by that? Ah! Looking up the girl saw the pup, Terry, on a nearby ledge looking down at the group. "Terry" Was all Toriko said as he looked up at her. Now she allowed a slight smile to come onto her face. She wasn't sure if he knew it or not but whenever he looked at the pup he got a soft look on his face. The girl didn't know why but she liked that look of his more then anything else. Not the boyish grin he gave on occasions or the smart ass smirk he seemed to get every so often. For some reason, in her opinion. all three of those looks fit him. (Well four, if one included the demonish look Toriko got when he fights) Wearing a slight smug look Sani said as he looked up at Terry, "..I see.. the battle wolf... Only she reacted to my touch. My touch that not even animals of strong alertness become aware of at all. How interesting," The smug look seemed to deepen slightly. "The princess of the ancient times.. a clone? It'd be more promising if it was on our side but, " "I wouldn't worry about that. She and Toriko teamed up." The girl spoke up. Last thing she wanted was to see the pup get hurt! Well, not that anything will happen when Toriko's nearby but still.

He suddenly seemed as if he just noticed her presence (granted that she wasn't a beauty or anything but c'mon! Last time she checked she wasn't THAT invisible!) and asked, curiously, "Who are you? Since when did IGO allow visitors to go anywhere they please?" Toriko chuckled a bit and replied, "There were some circumstances so the girl is currently under my protection." "What she said was right!" Mansam shouted, struggling to hold up the mammoth. "She's (the pup) is Toriko's partner! I'm having them work together right away! The target is the regal mammoth!" "Eh? But didn't the drag queen already bring the mammoth?" Setsuna asked in surprise. She grinned cheekily as Sani shouted, "I resent that!" to her before replying to the chief while pointing at the animal, "Um...I caught the regal mammoth, didn't I?" The chief said with a "what a dumbass" expression, "This one is a child Sani! The parent, who is way bigger than this one, has got to be around here somewhere!" She'd have laughed at the expressions if the news received didn't shock her as well. The animal that Mansam was holding was already insanely huge! If this is just a child then just how big was the adults?! Komatsu, sweating a bit, asked in shock, "Th...this mammoth is..." "A child?!" Rin finished in just as much shock. It didn't take a genius to guess on what everyone has a whole was thinking: Just how big...is the parent? As if on que the hunters (save the chief) started to get pumped and ready to go as someone (most likely the chief, given on how loud the man was) said, "The enemy is also in on this! A race is inevitable! Capture the mammoth first!" '_At least they look ready to go._' Setsuna thought as she watched the hunters getting smirks on their faces as the chef, once again, had a nervous look. Ai, ai, ai. Might as well go along for the ride cause like hell she came this far just to sit on her ass and wait!

**Bishokukai 6th Branch**

Hark rubbed his eyes with his forefingers once again due to the headache that's forming. How much longer must he listen to that damn fool, Bei, shout and chase that disgusting butt bug around while shouting that he's gonna cook it or eat it raw or whatever. '_Truly. That man is disgusting._' The blonde thought in pure disgust. Bad enough he has to wait but to add THAT on top of it? Tch! It made his blood boil! He hated this dancing around! That girl! He must get to that girl before the others figure out what's going on! Should that happen it'll make his life even more difficult then it already was! Hm? Ah yes. That guy is here isn't he? What a presence. One Hark wouldn't mind taking on one day just to see who was stronger. '_But that'll have to wait for another day._' The man mused as he watched a figure dressed in all black except for a white shirt and had a knife at his waist. Too much black for his taste and to make it worse the man had on a black helm that had two horns on each side with a larger one in the middle on the head and some sort of strange part covering his face. As if he was some damn knight from ages past. At least that's what the elders told him. Towering at a 7'6 and a large well built frame he supposed Staajyun could get any with anything he wanted. Although the good points he had was that he had long flowing black hair and the cloak. The figure "Staajyun-kun." Hark greeted as the dark figure past him. "Any luck with your hunting?" To Bei, Staajyun asked, indifference in his face, "But the regal mammoth's capture has been delayed. Is there a problem or something?" Bei, who was standing by the now dead butt bug (killed by the dark figure), rubbed his head as he nervously replied, "Ah...no... about that." Even Joejoe seemed surprised to see the dark figure. Of course they were. The top brass doesn't visit often (save Hark but only because only the top members of the clan had to be stationed at each branch in case one of the followers somehow managed to snag the girl) "You..you are...Vice Head Chef!" The old man said as Staajyun approached him.

"Where's Zedoru, Joejoe?" The dark man asked Joejoe. 'Zedoru-sama is presently operating machine number 7, sir." Joejoe replied as the vice chef walked on. "A GT Robot, huh. The previous times I drove them.. they were still too slow a response." "Is that so, sir? The new model's movement measurement error is merely thousandth of a second, is that still too slow?" Tch. Fool. For someone like him and Staajyun-kun those ridiculously toys are WAY too slow for them to fully feel able to function in them properly. "Yes. It completely doesn't produce my own speed." He watched as the two walked over to the observation. Guess he wanted to see who was all working those robots. "Who are the members?" The tall man simply asked as he crossed his arms as he gazed over the men operating the robots. It was kinda fun at first to watch them move around yet not go anywhere but it got boring after a while. "The sixth branch's branch chief Zedoru-sama to the mysterious person Zaiper." Joejoe began. Hark quickly lost interested as he rattled off names to Staajyun. '_I really want to get out and play._' The blonde groused to himself, flexing his body slightly. '_I feel like I'll go stale soon if I don't move soon._' "Is it all right, for those members. Is it possible to make their war powers assemble?" Ah yes. The bishokukai are trying to start a war with the IGO. "Though its embarrassing, already the first move is already being made shown by the pattern." The tall man merely brushed a stray hair back as if the news didn't bother him. "In place of one machine, I'll be going." That got the old man nervous a bit. Hark whistled a bit as Joejoe exclaimed, "Vice head chef personally?!" Hark chuckled a bit at that. "Course he's going! He said as much didn't he?" Hark said to the old man as the dark man finally noticed him. Or at least acknowledge him. "Hark-san." Staajyun said. "How's it going, Staajyun-kun? Long time no see!" The blonde said with a smile. He barely got the item that was tossed at him before it fell to the floor. "Oh a present! For me? You shouldn't have!" "Tch. Don't be vulgar. I happened to stumble upon a certain person and picked that up for you." The dark man said. Opening his hand the blonde felt his eyes widen a bit as he stared at the item. "What's this? A necklace?" Lifting it up he delicately sniffed it and almost gave a feral smile. It had the woman's scent. Granted it had a bit of Staajyun-kun's but her scent slightly overpowered his which meant that she wore it all the time. "Ah yes! Thank you! Life will be so much easier if we had a scent to look for! Much obliged Staajyun-kun!" Now armed with her scent finding her should be a breeze! Putting her necklace on he hid it under the long ruffled shirt he had on. Better not lose it. He watched as the dark man got ready to get a robot for his use he couldn't help but wonder: what would it be like to actually see the girl?

**With Setuna and others**

"A..amazing! I can't believe how beautiful this scene looks!" The girl exclaimed as the group stopped in front a carpet of black grass as animals ate at a leisurely pace. It didn't appear to be dying or anything which meant that it was completely natural. "Ooooooh! Isn't this black carpet!?" Toriko said in excitement as he gazed out into the meadow. Komatsu perked right up at the sight and said, "Amazing! That's the black grass that's really popular as a salad right?!" This is used for salads? Oooh boy. She kept forgetting these people are obsessed with food. "This is my first time seeing this scale of such black carpet in the natural world!" "I can't get over how pretty this looks!" Setsuna said as Sani, who had his hands on hips, glanced over at the two. The long haired man got in front of them real close and asked, "By the way, who are you?" Talk about no personal space! "Name's Setsuna. Though its kinda late for introductions." She told him, backing up a bit. At least he wasn't as tall as Toriko, Mansam or Coco. "A..nice..nice to meet you. My greeting is kinda late..um...I..." The chef started, rubbing the back of his head as Sani said, "'s fine anyway. ...Beauty... you two don't have enough't all." Eh? "What does that have to do with anything?" The girl challenged as the small man said quickly in apologetic tones, "I...is that so...I'm sorry.." Holding up a hand the pretty man continued. "What do you usually eat?" Really now! She watched in amazement as Sani gently put a hand on the chef's face as Komatsu, who had a nervous flustered look, told him, "Eh...no.. its usually quite normal." "'rmal?" The man asked as he moved to her, placing a hand on her cheek and got close. She fought back a blush as she answered, "Bout the same.." Mostly true cept Setsuna didn't know what the normal fare here was.

"That's no good~~~You have to pick foods with more things like vitamins and collagen distributed in them." The look in his eyes deepened a bit as he finished, taking out a menu with food she's never heard of, "Th's time, feast on my full course!" "R..right... th..thanks.." The girl told him, getting kinda nervous at him being so close. Toriko fought back waves of jealousy at Sani being so close to the girl. Damn him! He knew this was part of his personality but still! Kneeling down and grabbing a handful of the black grass he told the others, "That's why Sani's has the four heavenly kings most unbalanced diet. It'd be best if you didn't hope too much, Komatsu and Setsuna." The man moved away from the girl to shout at the blue haired hunter, "Shuddup, Toriko. What about your full course?" Ripping up some of the grass he ate some (he's not even going to wash it?! But..but he doesn't know what's been on there!) as he replied, "I still haven't decided anything but dessert." That sent Sani off. "Wassat?!-Still after seein' the best ingredients?! You're so indecisive! How many year's it gonna take to complete the full course?!" Rin, who had wandered a bit ahead of them, called over to Toriko, "Toriko- Over there, there's a cocomayo tree!" Eh? Looking over to the tomboy she saw the girl was pointing towards some tree ahead of them. There's actually a tree that produces mayo? "Oh, really, Rin, I'm coming!" Toriko replied back as he got up and walked over to the tree. "Oh, ignoring me?" Sani grumbled a bit as he watched the hunter leave. "Don't feel too bad. He just has food on the brain." The girl told him as the man looked down at her and sighed. "True, true but still. Ignoring someone is so rude!"

The others wandered over to Toriko as he squeezed one of the fruits and put some mayo (mayo! of all the things!) onto some of the grass he had in his hand and ate it. Throwing his head back with a smile Toriko said, "Delicooooous! Cocomayonnaise meets black grass!" "Really? I'm so glad!" Rin said from next to him. One of those eh? Poor kid needs to knock it off cause no man likes a woman that seems desperate. "Nice going, Rin!" At that the girl blushed as she covered her mouth with her hands in happiness. Wonder where Terry was? Looking around the pup was over yonder away from the group. '_Wonder what's wrong._' Setsuna wondered as she looked at the pup as the hunter called over to her, "Oi, Terry, come here! Let's eat together!" The battle wolf stayed where she was, whatever it was she seemed determined to stay far away. Why did it appear she was on guard? Toriko got a displeased look on his face. "As I thought, you're still being vigilant, huh." Glancing over at the long haired man he continued. "Enough with your touch, draw it back, Sani." "Don't wanna." Sani replied, closing his eyes a bit. "Why don't you stop making a fuss about me?" The long haired man childishly put his hands on his hips as he pouted lightly, "Whatever, that's totally unlikely." She felt her lips twitch a bit. Why does she have the feeling she just met another amusing man? Komatsu walked over to Toriko, who was continuing to eat the grass, and started, "Hey, Toriko-san.." "N?" The hunter went as he glanced towards the chef before saying, "Eat some too, Komatsu. You too Setsuna! It's delicious!" Oh boy. Couldn't he see that the chef had something he wanted to say that didn't involve food?

"Y..yeah...um... ch..chief said the mammoth became a race, but..the enemy, I thought it was the guy at the coliseum and the man who tried to attack Andrea..I mean Setsuna.." '_Nice going Komatsu._' The girl thought as she felt her eyebrows twitch at that. And to think she was worried that Toriko was gonna blab! So much for that! "Yeah, its probably a GT robot. But the enemy isn't just the GT robos." '_You can say that again._' The girl mused as she absently rubbed her neck. The bruises were still there and still sore but at least not enough to stop her from talking and the like. "As for the one who attacked her, there will more then likely be more surprised attacks so we gotta pay even more attention. The IGO maintains 8 gardens all over the world. Each garden has it's own different climate and environment. Though all in all of them there is a designated danger zone. Within the gardens, the wild beasts's toughness in this first biotope is of the highest danger level, A!" Argh. What a way to make someone feel relaxed. "With a capture level said to average 27, its a hell garden! From the research facility's information, the parent mammoth's whereabouts is the dwelling of the devils, regal plateau. Before the mammoth or the GT robos or anyone else, we'll definitely have to face those devils." Komatsu gulped a bit. "But that's true for the GT robo as well. Yes, we shouldn't be able to simply end up at the mammoth." Toriko smirked as he got excited. "Although, if the operator is the same guy we met in the sandy beach in the cave. Its a different story." "Well no duh. That guy had much more power than the one at the stadium." Setsuna muttered. She wasn't stupid. Even she sensed the level of danger that person gave off when they last met. At the mention of that person the chef paled a bit as he stammered out, "Th..those...guy's...goal..."

Without warning Terry, who had been quiet for now, suddenly started give out howls. Not a good sign and she highly doubted that the animal would just do it for the mere heck of it! "What is it, Terry?" Toriko asked as he suddenly sensed something nearing the group and whipped his head to the side. '_What's going on?'_ Setsuna wondered as she turned to look at whatever they were looking at and... Holy crap! Are those rockmen!? "Rockdrum!" Someone said in shock. These animals had to be towering as tall as a 45 story tall building! Why can't anything be simple?! One of the rockdrums roared out, making the grazing animals shake and take off while also making her cover her ears. As she watched the larger animals preyed on the smaller ones as they ran away. Quickly looking away Rin yelled out, "Icky!" as Komatsu let out a scream of terror. For the love of..! Doesn't anyone know that YELLING makes things come TOWARDS you?! Speaking of which, the rockdrum looked in their direction upon hearing the screams of terror. Chances are good that Komatsu's face being stuck in shocked terror are pretty good as he yelled, "He's looking this waaay!" "It sees us!" Rin cried out in panic. She's doing her best to control her shock and panic, last thing she wants to do is run and incite the thing to chase after. Toriko rubbed his hands together as he told the others, "Don't retreat you guys." "No really!? I thought I'd try sprinting and seeing what happens!" The girl growled at him. No way in hell is she gonna give into the urge to flee; she's seen enough horror flicks to know that running away from a beast that size won't do any good. Glancing over to Sani Toriko said, "Sani! Cover me!" The long haired man turned his back to both Toriko and beast and said as he crossed his arms over his chest, "Don' wanna."

Say wha now? That got Toriko panicking a bit as he went, "Oo!" "'t's bothersome. The rockdrum-though it's habitat is naturally near the beach, they're a few gluttonous wild beasts because of their demand for a lot of food they've advanced inland-tha's it, certainly?" Glancing back towards Toriko he continued nonchalantly, "After all, they're inferior animals that indulge their appetites (kinda like the blue haired hunter but she'll keep that bit to herself) It's a way of life that has abs'ltley no beauty, ne? And their appearance is clumsy too. The element of me opposing them is zero." Is this guy for real? He won't fight the animal cause it's not beautiful? The hell? "But it's meat is a delicacy! It's defeat value is 100!" Toriko cried at the long haired man. "Is there a lot of nutrition and such? If not, it's defeat value is zero." '_You've gotta be kidding me! The thing is getting closer and he won't fight cause of that reason?!_' The girl thought as her nerves increased as said monster got closer. It was way bigger then the devil serpent! "Toriko-San, it's coming!" Komatsu cried out.

Ooh crap! It was bigger up close! Setsuna noticed that the hunter glanced at his hand for second. From the look on his face said that it hadn't healed completely from the earlier fight. The animal clasped both of its hand together and raised them above its head and slammed them down on where Toriko was. The hunter quickly dodged the attack and skidded to the side. She blinked slightly as the hunter prepared for an attack. Don't tell her he's gonna use that five ren punch thing. It was half the cause of why his hand was in that condition! But shouldn't he be closer in order to do that attack? He was, like, ten feet or so away. Watching as Toriko launched the attack at the animals clasped hands the attack had enough force to make a huge dent n the creature's hands and flung it away from him. Guess the attack changes the muscle mass in his arms cause the long sleeved shirt he was wearing became one sleeve thanks to the attack. "Ku.." He gritted out as his arm shivered. '_My overdoing it at the coliseum is resounding. I planned to recover it but from here on using rapid hit would be tough._' The hunter thought as he rested his other hand on the arm.

Her eyes widen as another rockdrum appeared behind him. "Toriko! Look out!" "Toriko-San! Behind you!" She and Komatsu called out to him. "Oh no!" Setsuna said as the animal was about to bring its foot down onto the hunter when something launched off its face and landed neatly to the side, close to Toriko. "Terry!" The hunter said in joy. The tomboy touched a few buttons on one of her gloves and said, "Super relaxation!" Smoke shot out from one of the gloves as she continued, "Eat this, you rock guy!" She gritted her teeth a bit. All she can do is stay out of their way. Hm? Shouldn't the animal be calming down? Why did it look like it was getting ready for a fi...awe crap! Don't tell her the tomboy mixed the battle frag or whatever with the relaxation thing! Lovely! As the woman scrambled around looking for the thing on her belt the full effect of the battle frag took over the beast. "Rin! Get out of there!" Setsuna cried out to the girl as the beast quickly stood up. The tomboy cried out in fear.

"Sani! Have you felt it yet?" Toriko said to the other man. Is he for real?! His sister is about to get attacked and he's just standing there like a fool! "This rockdrum thing's skin? It certainly has a unique flexibility to it but it's mostly fat that...has no charm!" "This is different!" The hunter said as he held up a piece of the rockdrum's skin. "His shell...! It's a shell that was able to attach beautiful calcium carbonate to super hard protein skin! The other man looked at him. Good. At least he has the pretty man's attention now. Smirking slyly slightly he continued. "Have you realized it yet? If you process this shell it can bring about the birth of a perfect beauty marble. What's said to be the most hard and beautiful marble in the world, it's raw material is this guy..!" Sani looked like he was thinking it over. "How about it? Isn't that a little more like your kind of defeat value?"

argh! Fools! The both of them! As she rushed over to at least try to rescue the tomboy she did a double take as some force literally sent the animal flying threw the air to some far off place in the distance. "What...the..." She muttered as Rin and Komatsu practically had their jaws to the ground on shock as Toriko whistled a bit. "Ah, sorr'. I sorta overdid it. But, well, it's a situation where I'll pay for my mistakes.. The final blown away figure was beautiful." The long haired man said. His hair looked ALIVE as it moved all over the place. Was...was that attack made from using his hair?! "Top class rare crystal materials for a super huge chandelier, a bohemia glass vase, space coloring flowers, modest ornaments of high class tableware, and the marble king "perfect beauty marble" table. Everything promotes the food. Its important support! Cooking pasta with a price, say, not even a few tens of yen. By the way it is presented on a plate the price jumps up several thousand yen- (why is it that so far everything he's saying makes her want to clock him one? this is becoming irritating now!) The situation of an amateur drawn on a not so hot painting with a picture frame suddenly it will look good. The imagination? Just an illusion?- Nah, wrong. In reality, rank of the pasta's taste gets higher. The picture begins to breathe. It's joint work so to speak. Beauty is a harmony. In that change meeting, there is art...! (why did that line make her think of Deidara's line "art's an explosion!" or whatever?) More' over! To seek the ingredients alone and such is the height of nonsense! (And what he's saying isn't?) To gush out inferior piece of junk animals, it's an action below the level of a maggot." "Hey! I resent that remark, ya lame brain!" She growled at him but got ignore as he continued as he whipped around to look at the group. "Get it, you guys?!" "I get it but the question is do I give two craps about it?"

Toriko and Rin snickered a bit as Sani glared a bit as she looked back at him smugly. Turning to face the rockdrum and picked up a piece of a shell and said, "Now then, this is also a chance meeting. Let's make harmony together. Promote my beauty. And as support you too will again be glorious." The girl watched in amazement the long man's hair seemingly come alive and moving around. The animal roared and raised a fist to attack. "Andrea! Komatsu! Get away! You'll be caught up in it!" The hunter told the two in a rushed panic. Eh? Just exactly how can they get away? "You should scatter beautif'lly." She heard Sani say right before he said, "Spatula!" And a moment later some sort of force once again flung the animal backwards and landed on its back. "How'zat? The feeling of taking your own punch." Sani said as the force continued to push the animal back. Just how is he doing that? "Meep?!" She squeaked in surprise as she was picked up by a warm solid arm wrapped around her. "Hey!" Was all she said as Setsuna heard Toriko say (don't these men remember that her name is suppose to be Setsuna?), "Come on, you two!"

"Waaah!" Komatsu cried out as he too was picked up and moved to some distance away from the long haired man. "About how far is the range, Sani?!" Toriko called over to him as he put the two down. "N... Oh, right. About 25 meters." "It's a lot wider than in the old days. Your dining kitchen." The hunter told him in slight surprise. Dining kitchen? What's that? Sani smirked a bit. "I'm amazed with your 5-hit nail punch, Toriko." Toriko gave a slight before saying proudly, "That's still not the most hits I can do, though! However, avoid damaging the meat as much as you can when you bring down the rockdrum, Sani." The girl could of sworn she heard a hmph come from the man but he was too far away to hear such a sound. "I don't care. My goal ain't the meat." "To...Toriko-San! What on earth is happening?!" Eh? Where is the chef? Looking around quickly she saw Komatsu hiding behind a rock. Oh dear. "Hey Komatsu! Get back over here!" Setsuna called over to him as the hunter said, "Come closer, Komatsu! You'll get caught!" "What does that mean?" The girl asked, looking up at the hunter as the chef called out from his hiding place. "Caught?! What you mean?!"

"It's Sani's touch! From the tips of his own hair he is able to stretch around his flexible touch. About .1 micron." The hunter explained as they watched the long haired man's hair continue to move about. So all the attacks Sani has made has been caused by using his hair? Consider her impressed! It didn't even occur to her that hair could be used for attacking, of course, considering how long and how thin hair is it makes sense. In this world of course. What the heck are these men to be using such moves? "Point one micron?! Though, about how much is that?" The smaller man asked in disbelief. "If an extremely thin spider thread is 50, so it's thickness is 1.. Anyway, you can't see it with the naked eye." "Well duh. Although it WOULD be kinda fun if one could." The girl said as she glanced over to the fight. "Wonder what that would look like..." It would be a sight to see all the different hair strands moving. She didn't know the hunter frowned slightly at the comment as a wave of jealousy went through him before he squished it flat. "B..but something that thin would be easily cut, wouldn't it? Surely like a spider web.." Komatsu started before the hunter could continue. "Spider's thread is fairly strong. But Sani's touch is a different dimension. Manipulated at his will, one string of his touch's tensile strength is 250g. Sani's touch is the strongest thread of that width on the earth. I can't even cut it. That sort of thing can, from just a number of hairs, can extend to an infinite amount. In total, there are no less than 200,000, and they're a tough bunch of threads! With that degree of power he's able to lift such as this as the mammoth easily!"

Setsuna, ah forget it, meant as well use her real name since the boys can't even remember to use the alias. Andrea whistled low as the chef turned to look at Sani in amazement. "It...it looked like he was carrying that mammoth with one hand. So there were many invisible touches supporting it?" Sani looked over and noticed that there was one left of the rockdrum. "That so...there's just one left." He watched the animal, waiting for it to make a move. '_Don't come 'ny closer. He has a wild intuition.' _The animal reached up to it's shoulder and ripped off a piece of its shell. "Why would it tear off its own shell?" She asked Rin and Komatsu stared in shock. Looking over her eyebrow twitched as the hunter just calmly continued to eat the grass. Really now?! He couldn't till AFTER the fight or something?! Without warning the animal threw the shell at Sani. "He threw it?" Andrea wondered aloud as someone repeated/shouted the words. Sani just stood there calmly as the shell hurled towards him. Ai, ai, ai. What will it take to ruffle the feathers of these people? "Hair net." Sani said simply once the shell got closer and if she didn't know any better it looked like a giant net caught the shell just mere inches from his face (with the long haired man wearing a wide cocky smirk) and the shell literally bounced BACK towards the animal. "No way! Did it just bounce back?!" Andrea exclaimed in surprise as the chef next to her shouted in a dramatic fashion, "It bounced baaaack!"

She giggled slightly. Wonder if it was wrong to laugh at someone in such a state? "Sani's counterattack, spatula!" Toriko told them between mouthfulls. "Are you still eating at a time like this?!" The girl growled at him as she and Komatsu watched as Toriko had an armful of the black grass and continued to eat. "Why'd he blow away the first one to that degree. It was an awesome sort of power, eh." Judging from the look on the tomboy's face the reason was quite clear. The group watched as the beast stood up and charged at the long haired man. "Ah.. It was right to be vigilant about close range fighting. He would be helplessly entering into Sani's dining kitchen." Toriko told them as he popped more food into his mouth. "Dining kitchen?" Both she and the chef asked at the same time. "Touch's range. 25 meters!" The hunter said as the beast got close to Sani. She wasn't good at judging distances but if she had to guess the rockdrum had to be in less then twenty meters. "He entered. Hair lock!" The long haired man said as the animal suddenly froze as if locked into place. The man smirked as he told the beast, "Now from here, the preicous marble won't fall apart when cooked. Before cooking it has to be precisely tied up."

"Huh? Suddenly it's movement stopped." Komatsu said, staring as the beast strained to move. "At the moment it's tied up in Sani's touch, it's over. Even with the rockdrum's power, escape is impossible! Next, slowly...itwill just be cooked. Sani's high level body nature sense is what's called .1 microns to the superfine hair's tip, it extends to every nook and cranny. Sense of touch, pain, heat, and warmth are natural. With what are called skin taste buds the touch function even includes taste sensors. It can be said that it lightly surpasses the hand as a sense organ." So in other words when Toriko and gang first met Sani it was like he was being licked and tasted by his senors. No wonder Toriko looked disgusted. "Dining kitchen is when Sani's touch extends to something inside it's range. Inside that, all ingredients and game are freely cooked and tasted." The animal made some sort a choking noise. "Cooking completely!"


	11. Regal Mammoth Part 1

"Sani-San! Andrea! I found one!" The chef called out, holding something in his hand as he ran over to where the two were waiting. Well, the long haired man was with his arms crossed with a bored expression. The girl, still shaken by the event, was kneeling with her head buried in her arms as she tried to calm her raging nerves and shaking body. "Ah? One what?" Sani asked as the chef neared. Holding up some sort of grasshopper Komatsu relplied excitedly, "A child shoyu grasshopper!" The larger man let out a yell before saying, "Disgusting! It's beauty is minus 100 points! It's disgustingness is 50,000!" "But it's delicious, let's add it to the cream matsutake mushrooms." The small man replied as he added the bug to the pile of food he collected. "It's fine, so come over here!" Sani said as he freaked out over the insect. He looked over at the very shaken and asked, "Just how long are you going to sit there and shake?" Looking up she gave him a half hearted glare, not noticing that the look caused a slight blush to form on his face, and said, "Excuse me but unlike you I just had years taken from my life! I don't like heights and I thought for sure I was gonna die!" "After a bite to eat I'm sure you'll feel better." The chef said encouragingly as he looked over the food. She wasn't sure if that would work but damn! These people just can't keep their feet on the ground! Letting out a long sigh the gorgous man said, "Why the hell did I come here? It was a miscalculation."

**~Flashback to earlier~**

"Sani! Oi, Sani!" Toriko called over to him as the hunter gathered up some of the meat from one of the fallen rockdrums. "I don' wanna. I've already got the shell. I'm going home." That statement seemed to shock the larger hunter. "You're going home?!" Hevsaid in surprise as he continued to gather. Holding up the piece of shell the long haired man continued, "I have to get this shell to a beaut'ful craftsmen to beaut'fully process it into a beaut'ful marble." "Jeesh. After all those cool moves you have to ruin it by talking bout beauty as if it's the greatest thing on earth." Andrea said as she stood nearby with a hand on her hip, watching the exchange between the men. "Of course! Without beauty, what would be the purpose?" Sani started when something caught his attention. A split second later a roar was heard and all turned to see a rockdrum running towards them. "The one we sent flying at the very beginning was still alive!" Toriko shouted in surprise. "What gave that away?!" The girl muttered to herself as the tomboy and the chef both said, "And it's completely healthy!" "Damn, I forgot about knocking it." Sani said before their world was thrown upside, getting kicked by the animal. Andrea had never been a screamer but in this case she'll make an exception as the group went flying through the air. "Ohmygod!imgonnadie!" She screamed at the top of her lungs as she went flying. This has to be the worse day by far!

**~End flashback~**

The group: her, Komatsu and Sani; landed in place with what gave to be the biggest mushroom town (not sure what it's called but it should be a town) with mushrooms as far ad the eye can see in all kinds of shapes, sizes and colors. Not one of her favorite goods but it beats being splattered all over the ground. After resting for a bit she shakily stood up and walked over to where the small man was cooking. '_As expected of a capture level 29.. It seems I was naive._' Sani thought to himself, pouting a bit as he still had his arms crossed. '_If we somehow went flying all the way to mushroom woodsmen that means... Just how far were Toriko and the others sent flying?' _"That smells good Komatsu." The girl told him as she watched him grill the shrooms on the cooking stuff he brought with him. The small man smiled brightly and said, "Thanks!" To the other member of the group he called out, "Sani-san, they're grilled!" She watched as he nimbly took the cooked mushrooms off and neatly cut them. '_Of all the people I went flying with these two...' _Sani thought as he watched the two.

"This is the first time I've seen naturally grown cream matsutake mushrooms. It's exciting." Komatsu said as he continued his work. The girl smiled softly as she watched him work. "You really love your job, don't you?" Andrea asked as the other man walked over and picked up a piece and noticed how easy it came apart. The chef nodded happily. "Yes! It's been my dream since I was a kid! I've been working hard on becoming a great chef!" He told her. The girl chuckled a bit. "Must be nice to have a job you love." Komatsu nodded and was about to reply when the long haired man said, "Pretty good carving knife, that. Beautiful." That flustered the chef a bit. "Eh...?! Ah..th...thank you." "Not you, the knife!" She twitched a bit at that. How rude! Komatsu rubbed the back of his head and had on a happy flushed expression. "Eh..ehhhh but...somehow.. I'm happy..more than about myself." Andrea smiled as she ruffled his hair, earning her a "Eh? What's that for?" from the shorter man. He's too nice for his own good.

The chef put more of the mushrooms he collected on the grill. Mushrooms may not be her favorite thing but these sure do smell good. Sani stood a ways from them again and watched as Komatsu brought out the grasshopper. There wasn't much of a difference between this one and the ones back home except for a small dark sphere by its head between the shoulder blades. "Shouyu grasshopper...on its disgustin' back it stores the highest grade shouyu but it's a disgustin' grasshopper. We should disgustin'ly take the more disgustin' adult's rider shouyu." Can he say disgusting enough? "Y..yes..but the adult shouyu grasshopper's length is five meters, capture level 5, it's impossible for me to capture it. You say disgusting too much." "Agreed. Just because it's a bug doesn't mean you can call it disgusting." The girl added as she watched he chef expertly take the sphere off it's back and broke it over the mushrooms. Once he did that the aroma of the food became a mouth watering scent. The kid knows what he's doing! Biting back a giggle as she watched him get a goofy look as he took a whiff of the shrooms cooking with the sauce and the look took on a goofy happiness as he said, "Ha-what a nice smell... With cream matsutake mushroom's unique scent joined with shouyu's fragrance it grows in depth."

Looking over to Sani Komatsu said, "Sani-San, let's eat together." This guy is really too nice. Must be why she took to him so fast. Watching as he cut a piece off one of the shrooms and tried it. She laughed softly as the small guy got a complete look of happiness as he put both hands on either side of his face, as if he couldn't believe the flavor. "A...amazing! Naturally, the sweetness is completely different! It's an addicting taste!" Mushrooms can be sweet? The food may not be her favorite thing but she should at least give it a try before hating it. Just as she was about to take a piece the chef stopped her and told her, "Wait a moment please." "Alright." She said with a nod as he began to cut the shrooms into thin pieces. "Let's try eating it as sashimi." Komatsu said as he finished. Man, this guy knows what he's doing! Glancing over Andrea saw the taller man watching as the chef finished and tried a bite. The girl laughed as the small man went gaga over the taste. "Delicious! On the contrary, it's not addicting, we can eat as much as we want!" Taking a piece she tried it and blinked. "This...this good!" Andrea exclaimed in surprise. It didn't even taste like a mushroom! A second later a thud was heard and the two turned to see a adult version of the bug the chef used next to them. Knocking must of been used cause it shook a bit. '_Just how was it caught? The hunter didn't move from his spot.' _The girl thought as she stared at the bug. She noticed some movement and saw the long man hair's moving a bit. Question got answered.

Pointing at the grasshopper Sani said, "That's the shoyu grasshopper adult. I just caught it. Add more with that one's." Komatsu blinked a bit. "Eh?" "You were called Komatsu right? Though we were suddenly shot into this danger zone, we see high class ingredients and you're childishly frolicking is the max disgustingness but it's pretty good, somehow." He said before turning to look at her. "What is your name? You said Setsuna yet Toriko and Komatsu called you Andrea. Which is it?" The two exchanged a look before she said, "Its Andrea but I'm currently using Setsuna at the moment for certain reasons." The man raised an eyebrow delicately before saying (if she didn't know better she'd say the tone was skeptical), "Really?" Twenty bucks said that their gonna have to explain everything that's going on but hopefully not at the moment. He turned his attention back to the chef. "Having beaut'ful tools... With that in your hand, the ingredients just shined. Everything at one moment was in harmony. There's only one thing I can say. When you're cooking, you are beautiful." Komatsu stared at him a bit in surprise before saying, "Y..yes... Th..thank you."

That..was a strange compliment. Did he look beautiful? She thought he looked adorable and look like he was having such fun. "Ah, sorr' I just licked your cheek a bit." Eh?! But he didn't move or wait..! "Eh?! What was that?!" Turning to her the long haired man said, "Sorr' bout that as well." Her eyes practically bugged out of her head. "You did what?! What does that mean?!" "Wasn' anything, let's hurry and eat the matsutake mushroom." What?! "What did you do to me?!" "Did you do something to me?!" The two shouted at him as he sat down and calmly ate some shrooms. "I diiidn't, do you want me to do something?" Her face turned beat red at that as the chef said, "I don't. Come on, let's eat. -And we'll hurry and look for Toriko and the others!" "Couldn't agree more!" She said, stretching out a bit as the long haired man looked at her a bit. "I take it you do?" She almost choked on the food she was chewing on. "What?! Why?!" "You didn't say no.." "Don't even you pervert!" That got his attention. "P..pervert?! How rude!" "Then don't ask such a question! It'll give the wrong impression!" "Yea right!" The chef sighed as he watched the two exchange words. He hopes they find the others soon.

**With Toriko and others**

After getting kicked by the rockdrum he and Rin landed in the white forest. From the moment the two landed they had been running from wild beasts ever since. They were currently running from a domu beast. The beast roared from somewhere behind them. Looking back behind them Toriko growled out a dang. The domu as catching up quicker than he thought. Bad enough he had to worry about the animal now he was already worried about the girl and the chef. The hunter could still hear her scream of terror (first time since they met that was the first time he really heard her scream) and kinda wondered if Andrea had a heart attack. Hope she's with Sani...for some reason that made him feel agitated and really jealous (not sure why but whatever). Good thing there was a stress reliever behind them. The hunter quickly turned around and grabbed the animal by its large horn and threw it aways away from them, making the beast land on its back. A second later a roar was heard he quickly turned to see hippo like animals standing behind them. Crap! If it's not one thing it's another! "Rin!" The hunter called over to the tomboy as she quickly got her glove ready. "Go to sleep!" Rin told the animals as she sprayed the animals to sleep. A roar from behind her threw her off guard and the beast was about to attack when a side kick from Toriko knocked the animal out. Landing neatly next to her the hunter said to her, "There's no end to them. Let's get out of here at once, Rin!" He quickly bounded off, jumping easily threw the air. "Yes!3" The tomboy sId as she quickly followed suit.

Worry continued to nag at him as the two continued to run through the white forest. "Those guys-even though I didn't plan on entering the white forest... Are Komatsu, Andrea and Sani alright?! Terry had avoided the rockdrum's attack.." The hunter thought aloud. Especially the girl (Andrea), she's never been in true danger before coming here and the chef at least had a clue on what was going on. Landing on the top of a hill he looked ahead and much to his dismay there, in front of them, animals as of different colors, sizes and shapes as far as the eye can see. The hunter clenched his fists as the tomboy gave a cry of dismay. This really wasn't working in their favor. "Damn..all of these will become our opponents.. This is the worst development." While the hunter was muttering that the tomboy was just glad that it was just the two of them. She was practically going gaga as she thought to herself. '_Me and Toriko alone is a paradise development, though. Wonder who that girl is though. She's far too close to my Toriko!' _

While she was going gaga the afore mentioned hunter finally decided on something. "There's no helping it. Rin! Pour the battlefre onto me!" That startled her a bit. "Eh?! But..." While it would make her day to see him go wild but carried a risk. "Relax. It's just to intimidate them." He told her calmly before smirking. "Make the concentration dense in a way that I don't lose my sense of reason." Rin seemed to go into her own little world for a moment. '_I'd like it more if you lost your reason but I'll do it firmly!' _"Just to be sure, right after you attack, you take refuge too, Rin." The hunter told her. Eh?! But she wanted to stay with him! One of the beats roared loudly at them, that decided things. "Okay, that's it, attack Rin!" The large man told her as she quickly said ok and fumbled around her belt for a moment. Naturally she was nervous bout using the battle fragrance on a human. According to the eight gourmet laws, the use of the fragrance on humans was prohibited because too much of it can be a serious burden to the soul and body. Her biggest worry wasn't about the law...the true (wild) Toriko running wild would be the arrival of a demon.

One of the beast proceeded to attack with a loud hungry roar. If she was gonna use that battle frag she better do it now! "Rin, attack!" He called over as the girl raised the glove. "When the intimidation's over, I'll immediately start raising the cool down!" The tomboy told him as she quickly used the frag on him. Getting a whiff of the stuff sent fire running through his veins as his face took on a demonic look of unholy. His body shook and expand, ripping his cloths as both body and face became more and more demonic. The sight had the girl quite worried and concerned about the man. "To..Toriko... Are you alright?!" She watched as the sweat practically poured from the man as his teeth became longer and sharper. The sight had the girl really nervous. '_Toriko's inner wildness is..r..raging.' _The girl thought, starting to get a little freaked out. Good thing the other one wasn't here although he vaguely wondered what she would of made of the sight before her, seeing him get like this. Speaking of which the battle frag was a good release for all the stress he had on him. It was practically driving him crazy, knowing she wasn't near him! To make matters worse was that he himself didn't even know why he felt like that! But first... "Get away...Rin... It's dangerous.." The intimidation he sent out was the most powerful and the most demonic one yet. Even the sight caused the tomboy yell in fear.

She put up her arms and cowered a bit in instinct to protect herself, even while knowing the act itself was useless. After cautiously opening an eye to see that all the animals that were standing there mere minutes before had all vanished. A second later the shirtless hunter went to a knee, panting hard. "To..Toriko! Are you alright?!" Though she really didn't need to ask, anyone with eyes could see that the man was in terrible shape, what with the way he was kneeling and using his hands to keep himself up. "That..that was dangerous..without thinking, I was really almost at a point where I swooped down... As I thought, battlefre is dangerous.." Rin was in her own world she mused she wouldn't mind if the hunter swooped down on her. To him she said, "But that was amazing, Toriko! They all ran away in an instant!" The tired hunter replied back wearily, "Intimidation is...is a thorough means of threatening. It can be said it's an action used to avert meaningless fights. But this time...battle wasn't avoided. One animal still remains!" Looking at the field to see a lone animal standing there. Obsaurus, level 28, stood out there growling. The beast was roughly large as a tank, 8 legs with a long serpentine tail but that wasn't the strangest part of the beast. The strange part was its head, it had two jaws on each side with an eyeball just above the jaws snouts and a forked tongue that seemed to be shared by both of its jaws. This never ends, does it?

"Eh.. Isn't that.." Rin started as Toriko finished, " The obsaurus. It will give a ride to someone stronger as an owner. Furthermore, until a stronger person appears, it will faithfully carry out its owner's orders. Maybe if it's owner is a GT robo, it's orders are something like to co fine us. The idea to not run away from my intimidation could also have been told to it by the owner's merit. Interesting." The hunter smirked before he continued. "From here, I'll become the owner. The GT robo and me, we can find out which has higher merit. " Rin got an excited happy look on her face as she asked, "Then, do you want me to shoot the battlefre again? You'll fight without reserve?" That ain't happening any time soon. Giving her a slight look he replied, "No..that's ok."

**~A while later~**

The two huffed and puffed as the obsaurus rode them out of the white forest. Toriko was completely exhausted, having battlefre used on him again just to subdue the animal. "In the end you used battlefre.." The hunter told Rin, trying to recover his lost energy. "There really was no helping it since this guy didn't listen to anything we said at all." The girl replied cheerfully. Looking down at the beast Toriko continued. "That's the problem. This guy's owner was a GT robo! It corresponds with his true merit!" '_Shit..the battlefre is overdoing it, and what's more it's completely exhausting... My physical power at full throttle would be about 50-60%' _The large man thought to himself as they neared the next stage of this place. As he was now he doesn't think he can oppose the mammoth or robo. Another thing that was bugging him was the attack on the girl when he was fighting that other robo. Would they try it again? Chances were pretty good that there will be future attacks but the question was this: would Sani help? Just look at what it took to get to cooperate for the rockdtum. (Even though he kinda half assed it) He ignored the tomboy as she compliented that he was strong. No...before he could worry about any of those things they had to get through this next obstacle. "Don't lose focus, Rin." Toriko told her as they neared a canyon with very tall pillars of rock. "Okay3" The girl said as he continued. "The evil spirits won't wait! Devil athletics...! First we have to cross over here!" He hoped Andrea, Komatsu and Sani would be alright...

**~With Andrea and boys~**

The girl couldn't help but laugh at Sani's enthusiasm at the chef's cooking. "'Liciouuuu-s! Uh oh, this mushroom has too much grease, doesn't it?! Eh, Komatsu!" The long haired man exclaimed as he ate more of the shroom. Komatsu and her (at her insistence at at least learning what ones were safe and at least be of some help) collected some more mushrooms. These practically filled up the grill they were so chef beamed as he replied, "Its s..sirloin mushroom, so there's a ton of fat. With just a little broiling, I thought it would be just right." She watched as the two hovered over the food on their hands and knees, admiring it. Sani may have high maintenance but in the end (just like everyone else she's met so far) really enjoyed food. Though she must admit, the food fever is starting to catch on. Not a bad thing since it kept her mind occupied instead of worrying and freaking out bout home. "The fat is really awesome but," the feminine man started before getting really close to Komatsu. This guy does not believe in personal space, does he?

"There's an abundance of collagen, right?" He asked as the chef flushed slightly with nervousness as he replied with a small, "Y..yes, there's plenty." Andrea snickered slightly as Sani made a weird gaga face as he continued between bites of the shroom (though it was hard to believe that this steak taste was a mushroom). "N'ce ingredients-this. This is n'ce..." The girl giggled as she told the small man who, was smiling sheepishly a bit, "I think he likes your cooking a lot." "Y..yea.." The chef replied back as he got his hair ruffled by her again. "Reward for doing a good job!" Andrea said, tilting her head to the side with a smile. Both men blushed a bit at that as Sani continued on as if that didn't bother him at all. "Can we add shoyu butter to this, too? The long haired man asked. "Ah, for sirloin mushrooms you add salt and pepper or wasabi." The chef said as she quickly turned away at that. Ugh! Wasabi! Last time she tried it she thought for sure her mouth was going to to stay on fire, though it was her own fault for trying so much but still!

"And ponzu sauce is probably good." Komatsu finished as Sani thought for a moment before commenting, "Hou, that sounds harmonious." Fun as this little camp out is she wondered how Toriko and the other girl fared. Hope Toriko was alright, though the man seemed like he could handle something like getting kicked by a beast. Wonder if he was looking for them..tch..stupid question. '_Probably stuffing his damn face as he looks for us.' _The girl thought with irritation. Honestly! Is he even worried about them in the slightest?! Granted she wasn't too worried about him but still! For some reason it felt weird without him here... "By the way, Sani-San. Soon we should go looking for Toriko and the others..." Komatsu started before being brushed off by the long haired man. "'Ts alright, 'ts alright. We're all going to the same destination, there we'll probably meet. However, in the marshlands there're a lot more good ingredients! Beautiful!" Once he finished that sentence Komatsu got really excited, it didn't take a genius to figure out that the others were practically out the window. At least for the moment. "Really?! Let's go, let's go right now!" He shouted in excitement, looking at her expectedly. Smiling a bit she said, "It's not like we're in a hurry. Sides, I wouldn't mind trying new ingredients as long it's on the way." "Doesn't sound like your happy bout the prospect of ingredients." Sani said as he looked her over. Shrugging a bit she replied, "I am. It's just that in my hands their quite useless. I'm an ok cook but I am rather good at doing music." That got his attention. "'ts that so? Once we get back you'll have to play for us. Hope you can meet my level of beauty." "My idea of beauty and yours don't exactly match but we shall see what will happen." The man merely shrugged as he led the way further into the marsh. Yyyyeeeaaa this is gonna be fun...

**~Later on~**

The track getting here was...interesting to say the least. Komatsu was like a kid in a candy store; stopping and chasing everything and anything that caughtbhis eye. He was a lot like Toriko...wonder if he realized that yet. The landscape at the moment was empty save for some sad looking trees that looked like weeping willows. Wonder what they were called... Ah well. What she wanted to know was where on earth did he get those containers. Those were really run looking and came in all sizes and the best part was that they had a strap so that one found easily carry them. Although the chef took that to the extreme by carrying at least three or four on each arm that equaled to be six or eight in total. (Not including the ones Andrea offered to help carry which was like four so it really was like 12) The girl smiled as he happily named some of the ingredients they had or found so far. "I gathered a lot of souveners to bring back to the hotel. I'm looking forward to adding them to the restaurant's menu~." This place is a experimental playground right? She didn't think the people here would let the stuff he has out so easily. Sani turned around and said off handily, "-Matsu! By th'way I forgot to say, it's forbidden to ta ke ingredients with you of your own accord! It's a serious crime." NOW he tells the little guy after he collected so much of the stuff!

"Eeeeeeeh, is that true?! That's a staggering shock! A serious crime?!" The chef shouted in surprise. Matsu...hmmm...why didn't she think of that? Points for Sani on coming up with that name for him. Taking one of the cases into his hands he looked at it disappointed. "Haaa~~ I went through carrying these gourmet cases, too." **_'Gourmet case takeout 1000. Keeping warm and keeping cool, naturally. Vacuum packing and such, a case containing data for at most ten thousands kinds of gourmet ingredients ideal presevation. As ingredients are put in it, it retains the most suitable storage conditions, though there are various kinds and sizes, the takeout 1000 has data for 1000 types of gourmet ingredients preservations. Sold separately is a memory data card where data renewal is possible. Sold for 90,000 yen' _**_'I appreciate at being informed and all but I still don't understand the exchange amount here! Prattling numbers at me won't do any good!' _The girl silently told the voice. The information she was getting was quite helpful the only thing she wanted most was a name for whoever was talking to her in her head. Can't keep calling it the voice forever cause it's starting to remind her of that tv show.

The long haired man walked over top peer at the container. "Hooooou, the takeout 1000 portable type. It's a lovely looking silhouette sort of beaut'ful. Yes..beaut'ful." The container is considered beautiful? This guy keeps getting stranger and stranger. "Eh...ah..is that so?" Matsu asked as the two watched Sani turn around putting a hand on his hip with the other hand out and said to them, "In that case, taking the ingredients with you is okay, isn't it?-Matsu." Eh? But didn't he just tell him no? "Eh?! It's okay? I'd its in a container it's okay?" The small man asked. Huh. Maybe he didn't think he has the food in containers? "Yeah. If it's beaut'ful it's ok. That is, if it has my ok then it's okay...ain't that right Matsu?" That makes absolutely no sense at all but whatever. "I..is that so..." Matsu said in slight disbelief. " Oh, we're here, Matsu, Drea." "Since when did I become Drea? How's that exactly beautifying?" Andrea asked as her companion next to her said, "My name's become Matsu." "At least yours fits you." She said as the group stopped in front of the scariest looking swamp she's ever seen. "It's the marshland of antiquity! Gourmet ingredients from ancient times sleep here in large numbers, nickna'd the food museum!" The duo watched as an animal that kinda looked like an eel jump up from the water and ate a beast that was flying over head only to get attacked by the scariest snail ever that reminded her of a hydra with its eight heads.

Which the beast in turn got eaten by the largest shark that easily dwarfed the other animals in its jaws. "Talk about the food chain in four easy steps." She commented as once again Matsu's eyes almost bugged out of his head as he shouted, "Gya- what is this, what's going on?! I don't understand what's happening!" The hunter merely crossed his arms as he answered, "The scramble for gourmet ingredients...even in the marshland of antiquity the food cycle is vigorous." What gave that away? Ai, ai, ai. She really should of stayed at the gate. "Okay, then." The long haired man started as he turned to look at the two behind him. "Shall we participate too? In this battle!" "Eh? What does that mean?" Andrea asked as the chef asked, "Pa..participate, Sani-San? We're crossing this swamp..?" "Of course." The taller man replied simply. Looking at him warily she asked, "We're not swimming are we?" Matsu had the same look as he asked, "You...you couldn't mean swimming." The long haired man looked at them as he made a face (right, right. It wouldn't be beautiful if they did that. That and she couldn't see him swimming in such a place) "'ho'd swim in this sorta place!" He shouted at them as she put her hands up. "Chill. Just how do you propose we cross then?" To her amazement Sani just calmly stepped off and into the water but he didn't go down, just floated at least a foot off the water.

How was he doing that! That was amazing! Though his hair moving as if it was alive was kinda unnerving but whatever. "Uwah..it's cold." The man said simply as she and the chef stood on the shore and watched him in disbelief. Just how the heck were they gonna get across? Turning to look at hem Sani said, "Hey! Hurry up, come on! Matsu! Drea!" No way is she gonna put up with that nickname and was bout to say something when something grabbed the front of hers and Matsu's shirts. "Ehhhh?! What the?!" She cried out in shock as the two were suddenly yanked over to the hunter by some strong invisible force. Being held up in the air when nothing visible to the naked eye was quite discerning to say the least! Before she could get a word out the long haired man explained, "It's the surface tension." Eh? Surface tension? The girl listened as he continued. "Touching a little dirty mud is unpleasant but still, compared to our bodies touching the water, it's better." Figures he'd say something like that. "Well, just know that it's a bottomless swamp. You have to be careful so you don't sink in..." Argh. How can this man say these things so calmly while holding her and the chef up. "Surface tension...wha...what is that? Like a water strider, Sani-San?" "Inside the water is even colder...the water temperature is 5-6 C. 's you'd expect the food museum is really a refrigerator." "How can you know something like that?" Andrea asked. "Yeah. According to my hair's color the sense point differs. For measuring the temperature in this swamp is the cold point possessing blue hair." So basically the different colors in his hair are different pressures for heat and such? Thats kinda neat.

"As for the others," Sani continued with a smug smirk. "Pink is heat point...green is pressure point...white is equipped with the most numerous pain point." "D..depending on your hair's color the duties vary.." "Yeah! It's easy to understand, right?" The long haired man said as they moved along the water. "I guess...kinda..." The girl said as his face took on a concerned look. "What is it?" She asked. "There's something about the state of the swamp." "Something strange?" The chef echoed. "I'm not finding most of the gourmet ingredients that should be sinking in the swamp. On the contrary, there are few beasts in the swamp. Hm?" He finished, looking off to the distant shore line. Following his gaze she quickly looked away from the sight of a badly decomposing corpse. There was no way another animal could of attacked it and left it alone. Unless.. "Uwaa, it's horrible. The beasts were all killed.." Matsu said (she really wished she came up with that nick name first! It's so cute!) "These are the remains of someone moving through this swamp. This kind of behavior must be the bishokukai! Probably the GT robo!" The chef got a little nervous at that. She'll admit, she's nervous as well. That man who attacked her meant business and the only reason why she got away was sheer dumb luck. And if she didn't know any better she'd say whoever was after her is teamed with the bishokukai. It's a losing battle no matter what with her luck. For once she wished it'd go her way. '_Techincally it did. If I hadn't met Toriko and Matsu I'd be dead already. Speaking of which, wonder what Toriko is up to..' _

"Bi..bishokukai... The guys you said were after the mammoth besides us, this time. W..what are those guys? And just exactly who is after Andrea? Are they working with the bishokukai?" Way to nail it in one Komatsu. "N.. Some idiots who want to control all the gourmet ingredients in the world. Good for nothin' lot." Sani said before looking directly at her. "That's news ta me that there's people after you. Far as I 'now the bishokukai don't work with other groups." He looked closer at her before saying, "I take it they attacked you earlier?" She nodded. "Yea. Kinda caught me unawares and nailed me in the neck so gonna be bruised for a while." Andrea replied. The long haired man frowned slightly. Attacking a woman was quite unseemly and attacking a defenseless one even more unsightly. For some reason that bugged him a lot and he didn't know why. As for who's after her or if their even working with that idiot lot he'll have to look into. As for the chef's question he continued. "They just collect and collect gourmet ingredients. It's like they raised the level of gourmet cells all at once.." For once the two had matching confused looks and both asked, "Gourmet cells?" The feminine man was silent for a moment before answering. "Yeah..from the phantom jellyfish that lives in the deep sea, there are all purpose cells that can be harvested. Equipped with excellent regeneration ability and life force, if these gourmet cells combine well with other cell structures, it's possible for those structures' strong points to be wonderfully extend!" Of all the answers she wanted or preferred she wanted one that would be easily understood.

Judging from Matsu's expression he had the same feeling as well. "A delicious apple becomes delicious! Delicious beef becomes more delicious! And if you combine this with the human body what happens? The result, a successfully combined human obtains overwhelming life force power and becomes a superman. What's more, that true power, if they eat delicious things, by the degree they eat, it levels up. That is the gourmet cells's power...by the way.." Sani turned to look at the two with a cocky smirk. "Gourmet cells exist in mine and Toriko's bodies as well! In chief and Rin, too." Well...that kinda explains why these people aren't exactly, or remotely, normal. "Of course, the risk is huge. If there's a case where it can't combine, the gourmet cells's lose their power and the worst case is you'll die." Well, that explains her next question if it could work with everyone. Not that she's interested but was curious anyway. "S..something like that..? The chef asked with a nervous smile. Turning to look at Sani she said, "Guess my questions got answered. I was wondering how you guys have thsoe weird powers and how they worked." "Toriko-San and Sani-san's monster-like strength's secret, I feel like I know it.." ""Weird", "monster" call it beaut'ful strength." The man said. The girl rolled her eyes at that. "Yyyeeaaa sure whatever." Getting back to the bishokukai the chef said, "That they're searching for more delicious foods means.." "Of course they too have the gourmet cells. What's more, the originally inferior disgustin' group of scoundrels with the gourmet cells their wickedness becomes more prominent, increasing their disgustin'ness 100 fold."

Sani frowned as the grouped reached the shore and deposited them onto the ground. Now that they were closer to the dead animals the smell made her cough a bit. "Maa, I don't do anythin' about that sorta thing. I'm fine with whatever, but with the bishokukai...to fight and such.." "Their the worst sort of bastards I've ever seen! Just killing just for killing?! How cruel!" Andrea said as she turned more away from the pitiful state of the animals. At least the other hunter eats what he kills! "It..it's terrible..looking at it up close. Not being used as food...not even knocking... Their just killed." Matsu said as he looked at the sight. Looking at the longed haired man the girl noticed that he wasn't throwing some sort of a fit that it was disgusting or not beautiful at all. What Andrea did notice that his hands, which were at his sides, were clenched into fists and if she didn't know any better she'd say the posture the man was in was one of rage. "Whatever is fine but...this kind of...to do this kind of beauty-less thing... I can't smile. It makes me so sick I can't smile! The bishokukai!"

And thats a wrap for this chap! XD yea, yea bad bun. I wanted to do a little side note before I forget again. I'm sure you all have noticed by now that some of the words in here don't really make sense. I am aware of it but I usually try to catch them. I am using both iPad and computer to work on. The iPad and I have disagreements on how certain words should be spelled and I don't even notice the change till AFTER I post. It's really quite annoying! Anywho, I would like again to mention the lemon vote again. If it gets five votes it's in or if it gets five votes it's out so make sure to pleas vote on it. I think I know where I want to put it in. REALLY no pun intended there. I would like to mention that it will be in its own chap so it won't be mixed into the regular story line. It can be optional for those who do want to read can read and for those who do t can just skip. Not gonna have anything important in there sides lemon. So far got one vote for it. Please remember I don't want to be razzed that there's a lemon. Just want a yes or no. Not forcing anyone to read so please keep in mind that if it's voted in its optional to read. Other than that I gotta say I'm very pleased at how many of you all are supportnt this series. So please keep enjoying this series and comments are quite welcomed in case I'm not getting a character down. I shall do my best to get this updated at LEAST once a week. I'm trying to get to the part where Zebra comes in and its practically killing me! Anyway, please enjoy and don't forget to vote!


	12. Regal Mammoth Part 2

**~With Toriko and Ren~Devil athletics 5th surface~**

Coming this way was a really REALLY bad choice but too late to worry about it now. Toriko coughed blood, already torn and beaten already only to be made worse by an opponent they weren't really thrilled to see. Panting heavily as he stood in battle stance mood as the hunter tried to think up of a plan that didn't involve completely using his strength. "To..Toriko!" Rin called over to him. She's gotta figure out a way to help him! He's just getting wounded and beaten badly to the point where the blood is practically a river. The large bird-like animal gave a loud "Kaoooooo" sound as it stood in front of the two, drool freely running down from its jaws. "Fall back, Rin!" Toriko told her as he waited for the next move. "But..." Rin started but he ignored whatever she said as he concentrated on the opponent. '_Damn...we're still on the 5th surface and there's this strength...? I can't preserve my strength.. And I'm sure devil athletics had 10 stages...we chose a bad route. _' The hunter thought to himself when the tomboy suddenly shouted, snapping him out of his thoughts, "Toriko! Behind you!" He turned and saw the mystery bird about to pounce on him. Among the many numerous routes, one route can be picked but whichever one is picked the chooser must struggle to clear the 10 stages that is on it. In order to proceed to the next stage, a boss must be defeated in order to do so. As a person moves through the stages the strength of the boss increases but if one is lucky, a person can chose the one route that is mostly dominated by low levels. Making a leap forward he bounced and landed away from the beast. The animal got behind him in an instant?! How?! Wait..that's not it! Looking behind him he noticed that there were more of the mystery bird but for some reason they seemed to blend in together. Catching a quick glimpse of the animal Toriko saw that the animal was expelling some kind of smoke from its jaws. '_Deluding breath. This guy..' _The hunter thought to himself as the smoke became more obvious and thicken up around him till there was a haze of fog surrounding him. '_Without power or speed but with unique movements, its expelling this breath with a hallucination effect.'_ Which meant that the extra "birds" he was facing was caused by the breath, and since that was the case, which one was the real one?!

The beasts in the devil athletics all use mysterious illusion techniques and mimesis. These beasts find pleasure in slyly deceiving intruders and sap away at their strength bit by bit. That was why it was called the evil spirit's playground. The animal that Rin and he rode on already succumbed and the hunter watched as the beast fell off one of the pillars. "Damn, the obsaurus was easily perplexed and fell into the abyss... He didn't even give us one millimeter more fighting power.." The large man grumbled to himself as he turned his attention back to the bird. Even with the hallucinogenic effect the animal did have some amount of strength. Which is way the terrain was the way it was. The same kind of terrain repeats many times which induces intruders to fall into a light sensory blockade state. For example, like traffic lights on a highway, with so few stimuli on the same path a person keeps going on for a long time their senses become shortened. If in this state for a long period of time, the ability to think declines and its said that the person can start to see hallucinations. There's a further affect on the brain's central nerves and components of a volatile hallucination can come pouring in and because of this consciousness can become muddled all at once. Speaking of which.. "Rin! Can you neutralize his affect?" Toriko called over to the girl. She should have something that could do something about this breath! "Hang on!" Rin called back as she once again went through her belt before finally finding what she was looking for.

"There it is! Thunder peppermint!" The tomboy exclaimed as she held the bottle in her hands. Thunder peppermint fragrance was the strongest smelling fragrance with concentrated menthol extracted from dried thunder peppermint leaves. It was completely like lighting falling, it has the irritant oder of menthol and mint. It has the stimulating effect that if one took a sniff that person would be awake for five days. As Rin quickly loaded her glove up with it she told him, "If it gets in your eyes you'll go blind so I'd like you ta close your eyes, Toriko!" She didn't need to tell him that but he obliged anyway. " My nose being effective is plenty. Come on!" At that the tomboy fired the frag at him, enveloping the hunter in a cloud of smoke. With this, visual and auditory hallucinations won't matter. '_I'll learn his location by smell!' _The hunter thought to himself. Once the other senses were narrowed to one locating the animal would be easier, including having his eyes shut will help a lot. After a few seconds the mystery bird was to the right of him. "It's there!" Toriko shouted as he prepared the knife attack. "Knif..." The hunter started when it (the bird) suddenly appeared behind him and chomped down into his back. Shit! "Toriko! One point concentrated! Thunder peppermint!" The girl shouted as she shot a glop of the frag into the beast's face. The shock of getting hit in the eye caused it to let the hunter go. Here's his chance! "Take this!" Toriko shouted as he made a swiped at the animal but to his shock and surprise the animal was already clear across from him.

"Damn! This bastard...by isolation he's even made a hallucination of his position by smell!" Toriko growled. Now it's gonna make it even harder. Isolation (detachment segregation isolation) like in break dancing and pantomime, the method of moving one part of the body independent. This at high speed and moreover performing it during emergencies, leaving an afterimage, making the enemy not look for its actual location. The wild mimesis species does this, combined with the hallucination effect makes the effectiveness greater. Usually the sense of sight is lead astray but the mystery bird, manipulating its own smell volume, deceived Toriko's sense of smell. The animal appeared to be getting angry as more and more time passed and gave a loud roar. Rubbing his chin a bit the hunter commented nervously. "This is bad, that attack Rin did just now made it mad... Such a troublesome opponent, goddamnit. But I can't use my powerful throttle though uoooo!" He shouted the last part as the animal suddenly lounged forward to attack. The tomboy was just about to shout when all of a sudden a blur of movement landed on the animal, causing it stop in shock. "!?" Toriko went as the two stared in surprise as the white blur jumped over the hunter and landed behind him. Toriko smiled brightly as he watched his furred partner pant a bit and exclaimed happily, "Terry!" Walking over to the wlf he kneeled and hugged her. "You're ok! I'm glad, I'm glad! I'm glad you caught up! By the way, you really caught up quickly." He said to the wolf happily as he petted the animal.

Rin watched as she covered her blushing face with her hands. How she envied them! But she's really fast at this size already! How many kilometers is it from black carpet to devil athletics? The tomboy wondered to herself as she watched the touching scene. The bird didnt move, not that it didn't want to but the reason why was because it couldn't. The wolf that had just appeared was yet still a child and knew at that moment it was outstripped in terms of power. Even if it hadn't realized it, the way the wolf attacked as if the hallucinations weren't even seen by the wolf and just went straight to the real self in a flash. The battlewolf had an extraordinary talent for fighting and just from sensing only a portion of the wolf's disposition the mystery bird took warning. A second later the pup jumped a couple of times, stoping a aways from the two and looked expectedly at them. The two stared in silent surprise at her (wolf) before Toriko said, "Terry... That's a different route.." He stopped, looking at the wolf a bit more before understanding what was being asked of him. To the tomboy he said, "Let's go Rin." That surprised the girl. "Eh? We're going with Terry? But.." The hunter interrupted her as he explained, "Compared to the reaction of Sani's touch, Terry's sense is sharp. Perhaps the wild intuition's reaction is much bigger than the reaction gotten physically, that's connected to an ability to avoid a current crisis. Perhaps a big danger is drawing near..! Now we're going to believe in the route Terry is taking!"

Jumping easily the two caught up with the wolf before continuing to move on. As they continued to move unharassed they quickly passed by the next boss, which Toriko happened to glance over and a huge pig-like animal with horns and scale like skin. '_'m so glad we didn't take that route. I'd be sorry to fight with a boss like_ that.**' **the hunter thought as the group continued to move. He's in no kind of shape to fight with a beast like that. That, and he really wanted to make sure the others were alright. He knew they'd be alright with the long haired man but it bugged him greatly that the girl, Andrea, ended up with (hopefully cause if she managed to get by herself there'd be nothing left) Sani instead of with him. Komatsu was definitely for sure with him. Noticing that the end was near Terry jumped up onto the ledge of the cliff and onto the grass as a split second later the two landed neatly behind her. Throwing her arms up Rin gave a cheer. "We did it! We escaped the devil athletics!" Looking over towards the wolf with a big smile Toriko said, "It's thanks to Terry! You chose the most comfortable route!" Terry gave a hoouu to him as he continued, "All right, at last the entrance to the regal plateau!" "I wonder if big brother's group is reaching it too." Not noticing how the wolf seemed to catch the scent of something before whipping her head back around towards the way they just came from. From the scent of it, it was dangerous. As if sensing the wolf's distress Toriko turned to see her looking back. "What is it, Terry?" As he continued to watch the wolf it seemed that she determinedly decided on some king if resolution on something. As if to solidify it she gave a cry of challenge to whatever was pursuing them. "!" "Terry?!" Toriko and Rin went as they watched on in amazement.

**Sani's group**

"That cry just now..." Andrea said as Terry's cry reached their group and caught their attention. "! T..that voice just now.." Komsts started as Sani put his hands on his hips as he said, "A wolf's voice. It's pretty close." "Think its Toriko and the others?" The girl asked as the chef said excitedly, "Could it be Terry?!" "The battle wolf Toriko took along...? Though it had an unusual feeling to it, that howl." She blinked at that. Did that mean something to the others? Are they alright? She still owed that glutton an ass kicking! Like hell he's gonna get killed or something before it gets delivered! "Di..did something happen to Toriko's group?! It doesn't look like they've gotten here yet.." The small man exclaimed as he got a nervous look. "Yeah... That's right. Something happened, didn't it?" The tall man said simply, as if not bothered by the thought. She didn't like that tone if voice. Narrowing her eyes the girl put a hand on her hip as she told him, "If it did then we should go help out, don't you think?" Sani turned around and replied, "Ah? Tha's nonsense. Everyone had their own resolve coming here. This is a danger zone.. It's the same with you, right Drea and Matsu." Again he called her that. Does it even remotely look like that name fits her? "That howl just now.. It had a serious re- For us to go help them now would be an insult to the resolve made. In other words..." Crossing her arms over her chest she and Matsu said at the same time. "Not beautiful." "Right." The feminine man said as he turned around again. "And if we go save them would coming in at the last moment be beautiful?"

"Only if we're near by to do it. What good will it do with that line of thinking if their beyond our reach?" The girl muttered as the chef said, "I..I see." That man sure has strange values about beauty. '_But...when we got blown away by that rockdrum he just causally supported Komatsu and myself.'_ She thought as she looked at him. Or when he actually showed anger at the bishoukaki's cruelty. Not to mention the few times Sani actually looked cool and even being...in his own way though she kinda doubted he did it consciously. Or least but not least making that heated look. Looking over at the chef she noticed that his expression was still full of worry. Poor guy must be worried about the others. Not that she wasn't as well cause it was practically driving her nuts to know if the hunter was alright. The other girl too. Terry wasn't even in the way so most likely the wolf somehow must of caught up with the other two. "I wouldn't worry too much, Matsu." Andrea said with a smile. "I'm sure the others are alright and I'm quite willing to believe that they'll met up with us." "R..really? No...I'm sure your right but still..." Komatsu started before she ruffled his hair again and said with a grin. "Don't even think of feeling bad bout worrying. It's natural to be worried." "Beaut'ful." Sani said as he watched the pair. "Eh?" She went as he continued. "The way you looked when you were talking to him. Beaut'ful. The way you were talking bout faith and trust is even more beaut'ful." Oook? "Thanks... I guess."

The group stopped of a rock wall. Immediately the girl thought, '_I'm not going to like what's going to happen. Wait, wait. I shouldn't jump to conclusions cause maybe we just have to follow this wall to whatever.'_ Pft. Yeah right. So far, these people barely kept their feet on the ground. '_Ah well. I always wanted to get over my fear of heights but..'_ Andrea mused as she looked up at it. '_Going __through a crash course isn't my idea of fun! I'm gonna die at this rate!'_ "-Now, Matsu! Drea! First we have to climb up this. The entrance to the regal plateau, the regal wall!" Her thoughts blanked out as she finally looked up and couldn't even SEE the very top. Yup. Its official. These people are trying to kill her by giving her a heart attack. To make matters worse the feminine man finished up with, "A sheer cliff 3000 meters in height!" "3000 meters?! No way! I'm staying RIGHT HERE! Uh hu! No way! I refuse!" The girl exclaimed as the chef went, "Th..3000 meters?! I can't see the peak at... How are we gonna go up it, Sani-san? You don't mean rock climbing. Uwaahhh!" For a second she wondered why he gave out a cry as her shirt was suddenly yanked in a upwards motion. "Ah hell no! If I said something to make you mad I'm sorry!" "Ah relax. We'll scale it but walking normally. For me it makes no difference whether its a cliff or just ground. With a bit of a quick pace, I can go 5km/h. We'll scale this in 36minutes. So just sit back and enjoy the ride." "That doesn't make me feel better at all! I don't care how cool it is! I hate heights! Get me down! PLEASE!" The girl growled at him as Matsu said, "Amazing!" She's gonna have a heart attack! She just knew it! Ah screw it! Putting her hands over her eyes somewhat calmed her down. Agh! Maybe she was better off with Toriko and others! As they ascended the wind was starting to blow, making her shiver and bringing some sort of pungent scent of an animal. Nope. Her eyes are gonna stay shut cause at the moment there's no way she can handle any type of animal! A second later the chef gave out a cry of fear. "The regal wall's masters, the heavy cliffs. Relax. If you don't do anything they won't come and attack. But on the other hand, if they get angry it could mean trouble." Eh? It suddenly got dark. Maybe a passing cloud? "Wha..what's going on? The area suddenly got dark, didn't it?" Komatsu glanced over to the girl and saw she was freaking out bad. "N...tha' so?" Sani said. Andrea felt a shock of surprise go through him before he shouted, "Hey...hey! What's thaaaat?!" "Eh?!" Ok. Panic is in their voices. Does she REALLY wanna see what's happening? '_No! If something is coming I don't want to see it! I wanna be back on the ground! Whoever I pissed off in my past life better be worth this!' _Andrea thought in despair. The rumble up above then certainly wasn't helping her nerves! Well, neither is the two men freaking out helping either but still.

**Toriko's group**

The two finally made it to the regal wall after running for a while. As they got closer the tomboy noticed something and quickly realized what it was. "Toriko! There!" She shouted over to him as they continued to run. Looking in towards the wall the hunter's eyes almost bugged out of his head at the sheer size of the mammoth. "Uoo the regal mammoth! Its huge! Its totally falling down a cliff! The reason, though, its too hard to tell!" He exclaimed in surprise. He knew the animal was big but wow! "Why is it in a place like that?" The tomboy asked as she had her hands up over her face in shock. "That's a parent mammoth, no doubt about it! It came this far from the regal plateau looking for its child.. even so, that size..its like a mountain!" Toriko continued, quickly becoming more concerned about where the others were. "Are Sani, Andrea and Komatsu okay?! Hurry Rin!" The hunter told the girl as they quickly started running even faster to the wall. "Okay! Terry sure is cool, huh? Just in case, I battlefre behind, but..." The girl started before being interrupted by the hunter saying, "From the beginning she's been set on a fight without taking into account the chance of victory. Terry has resolved herself for the sake of her own pride." Looking over at Rin he continued. "Now we can only believe...! In Terry's power, the genes inherited from the ancient king." That made her feel relieved, smiled and said, "Okay!"

**Sani's group**

"Uooooooo, this is bad! Sani-san, somehow, please!" The chef said as he watched the large wall of something heading their way. Concerned why the other one hadn't said anything look he quickly looked over and saw her eyes were being covered by her hands. That's right! She's scared of heights! "Andrea! You have to open your eyes! This is really bad!" The small man called over to her. Ngh...he had a bad cause if something happened she needed to see what was going on. Looking up shouldn't be a prob...WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT THING FALLING TOWARDS THEM?! "I really should of stayed at the gate! What the hell is that thing?!" "That's right! Please stop it like when you were lifting up the child before, Sani-san! Can you do it?!" "Are you saying that this thing is the parent?! Its waay bigger than the child! Its impossible!" Andrea said as she watched the long haired man panic. "Its impossible, this way! I can't avoid it! !" He shouted as a bunch of angry mole-looking animals came out from some caves in the cliff. "WAAAAAAA! Lot of them came out from inside them!" Komatsu called out in fear, fears bugging out of his head. "They kinda... angry huh? Maybe..." Maybe her Aunt Fanny! Their angry! There's a giant ANIMAL about to come down onto their heads! This SUCKS! The group watched as the animals come rushing towards them. "You don't think this riot is our fault, right?" Sani asked the animals nervous and got an angry roar from them. "This isn't the outcome you'd expect, riight!?" He shouted at them before quickly turning back the way they came. "AAAHHH!" Andrea shouted in surprise as the force of the turn made her and the chef facing the animals. "This is dangerous, Matsu and Drea! That mysterious falling thing is going to fall on that crowd of heavy cliffs! I can't handle it! Let's pull back!" Sani shouted as he quickly rushed down the cliff. She's gonna get sick! "Yeah, lets run away, Sani-san!" "I vote for falling back!" the girl groaned as the animals growled and snapped at their heels. "Run away?" The tall man asked as a split second later a force pushed/punched the animals back far from them. "Uhhh..." Andrea went as Matsu's jaw dropped as he continued cooly. "I'm not doing something unsightly thing like running awa. Just pulling back for a moment." Ha. Yea right. If that was the case then why was he hauling butt to the max? "But we're putting it to the max, though!" The look of Sani's face as they ran would of been funny if not for those things right behind them. Argh! Not how she pictured on going! Being eaten would be preferable to getting squashed!

**Toriko's group**

They quickly neared the wall as they continued to run at top speed. The two had noticed the new additions besides the mammoth falling but as they got closer they got the surprise of their life. "That's..." Rin shouted as Toriko got a look of dismay. "Sani! Komatsu! Andrea!" He shouted as Rin shouted, "Onii-chan!"

**No groups**

"Nnoh?!" Sani exclaimed as he looked towards ground level and saw two figures. "Toriko and Rin!" "Eh?! Toriko-san!" The chef shouted as he strained to look for them. Unfortunately she looked and all she saw was two mini figures running towards the cliff and for a moment her stomach dropped. Argh! Can be sick later! "Toriko!" She called down to them. "Torigo-zaaaan!" Matso went as tears streamed down his face. Not that she'd believe him if it wasn't for that death grip fear from heights! "So you lived, you guys!" Sani called down to them happily. "Or rather, can you do something about this situation?!" Just how are they gonna be able to do that from so far away?! The two were too far away to hear what they were saying but from the looks of it Toriko was getting ready to use the knife move but on what though? She watched as he made four large slashes into the ground. Too bad she couldn't get the gist of how big the square he was making. '_What is he up to?'_ Andrea mused as she watched him use fork to lift the giant square he made. "Sani! Inside here!" Toriko shouted to the trio above. Ah! Of course! The hunter made a rough shelter/cover for them to go into! Though she wondered at how the large man had made such a enormous slab of rock but whatever! Long as it was deep enough to take cover in works for her! Wait...if that's there then that means... ooooooh noooooo. The girl wasn't going to like this next part. Much to her horror (confirmation) the large hunter said, "Jump in!" as he dropped the large slab off to the side. "Okay! Let's go, Matsu and Drea!" Sani said with a large grin as he bounced off the wall towards the hole., dragging the two behind him. If she ever got home she's totally NEVER leaving her bed! The world got darker as the huge mass came barreling towards them. If this man didn't move his ass faster their toast! Argh! A split second later the whole world went dark as the loudest thud the girl ever heard came from above. Above? Did that mean they reached it in time?! Their not human pancakes?! Shuffling was heard and the sky could be seen as the animal wandered off to who knows where. Wait...what stopped it? Glancing over at Sani, who looked quite exhausted then he had before, pant a bit. His hair lock stopped it that much? Wow. Guess he's stronger than he appears to be. Suddenly noticing a warm solid wall behind she glanced up to see a shirtless Toriko (why is this man always in one form or another losing cloths? Well, beats him losing his pants), who was looking up. Blushing Andrea quickly away before he noticed how close they were. "At a hair's breadth...hair net! We pushed all the way into here but...huu... we made it somehow." "Toriko-san!" Matsu cried as he rushed over to the hunter. Walking over to the two the girl said with a hand on her hip, trying not to grin, "You sure are late! Got lost or something?" "Komatsu! Andrea! You two sure did well to stay safe! Late, huh? It sure wasn't an easy track to get here, I'll tell ya that!"

"it's all thanks to Sani-san!" The chef told him as Andrea nodded. "Though he did most of the work.." She added as the hunter suddenly noticed the containers Matsu was carrying. "Oh! Sirloin kinoko!" The large man said excitedly. Did he even hear her comment? '_Probably not.' _The girl thought with a smile as she watched Toriko try to take some of the containers from the chef so he could eat them. She shook her head with a smile. These two...really... "Toriko you can eat those later! We're kinda busy at the moment!" She said as she got a pathetic hungry look from the man. "But I'm hungry!" "Your always hungry, when AREN'T you hungry? Sides that, Komatsu's saving those! And since your hungry there's stuff around here you can snag!" The girl told him sternly, really doing her best not to smile. "But...Andrea...don't be stingy!" Toriko whined a bit as he drooled at the containers. "Besides, we can always pick more up on the way back!" "Its alright, Andrea! I can share a little bit with him." The chef as the hunter got an excited look. "Matsu! Really now?" Oooh boy. Sani stood nearby with hands on his hips watching the exchange between the trio with a "the hell" expression. "Rather, you guys are exhausted, aren't you?" The long haired man asked before sighing deeply. "...Anyway...that giant thing that just fell...rather... Its not what I'm thinking, Rin?" "Yes. Its totally the regal mammoth!" The tomboy told her brother with a happy smile. "I knew it!" Sani shouted as he jumped out of the hole and landing up on the ground. "With this kind of size! Even with my touch, any knocking can't reach it!" The tall man stared at the large craters that were the mammoth's footprints leading away from them. Just how were they gonna take this thing? Something caught his notice and turned to see the heavy cliffs coming up from the ground. '_These guys...protecting their bodies from the impact of the mammoth's fall. They curled up their bodies and harden them.'_ Sani mused as he watched them stood up and growled menacingly at them. Climbing up to the top of the hole with Toriko's help the girl's jaw dropped in surprise. She thought for sure they were down for the count! "The heavy cliffs! They look mad and stuff!" Someone shouted. "What gave that away?" Andrea grumbled as the hunters got ready to fight. "Toriko, you come too!" Sani shouted from where he was standing as the animals launched themselves into a attack. "Damn! All of these guys are our opponents along with the mammoth? Rin, you help out too!" Sani shouting out orders is interesting to say the least. A familiar voice said suddenly, "I'm here too, Sani." That sounded an awful lot like Coco... Seconds later the animals were on the ground in no time flat, having knocking done on them. Yup. It was the poison man alright. The two men were shocked to see how fast the heavy cliffs went down. "They won't die. Its full-body paralyzing nerve poison." Coco said as the group whipped around to look behind them in a pose that she guessed was most comfortable for him to fire. The dark man smirked a bit as he said, "Yaa, I'm late, huh?" Andrea grinned and called over, "Long time no see Coco! Though depending on how you look at it one could suppose your on time?" "Coco!" The large hunter called over to him happily.

The dark man chuckled a bit as he stood up. "Yah, I kept you waiting still, ne." Coco said as Komatsu rushed over as the girl followed him. "Coco-sama!" Komatsu shouted happily as he gave Coco a hug. She couldn't help but smile at the happy smile the poison man gave the chef as they hugged. "Ya, Komatsu-kun, its been a while! "Hey Coco, how's it going?" The girl said with a smile as she walked up to the two. The dark man chuckled as he said., "Its going good. Andrea-chan. The same as last time, seeing you two here in this kind of danger zone. Looks like you don't learn from experience, Komatsu-kun and Andrea-chan." The girl merely shrugged as the chef said/cried happily, "Its Coco-san! That kind of tale telling way of talking is Coco-saan!" She giggled as she ruffled his hair. "Who else would it be goof? Unless there's another guy who talks like that?" The dark man chuckled and suddenly noticed the marks around her neck and asked, "What happened to your neck?" Ack. She totally forgot about that. "Had a little mishap back at the stadium no big deal." Andrea started before the chef said, "While Toriko was fighting one of the GT Robots some guy came out of nowhere and tried to attack her!" "What?! Are you alright?!" Lightly glaring at the chef she answered honestly, "I'm fine. Other then marked up a bit I'm still among the living." The girl added with a grin which earned a slight blush from him as the others wandered up to greet him. Except Sani who stayed back from the group. Guess he's awestruck by the awesome entrance Coco made but what was with the disgusted look? Looking over to the long haired man the dark man called over to him, "Oya, Sani. What's wrong? You're drawing back your touch. It's been so long, let's shake hands!" Coco said the last part as he extended his hands towards him. Why did the atmosphere turn kinda funky at the moment? She continued to watch the exchange between the two men. "Your touch.. are you pulling it back now...? Sani-san." The chef asked as he looked back towards the long haired man. If memory serves her right if his touch involves taste then chances are good that, to him, Coco's skin wouldn't taste that good. Why does that sound so wrong?

"Yes. It's not coming out." Coco said, still in the crouch position. From the look of it he's not insulted, guess he doesnt care? The large hunter grinned as he commented, "Coco, you can see Sani's touch with your eyes right?" Ah. That's right. Cause of his abilities he can see stuff as fine as Sani's touch. "Precisely, I can only capture the miniscule electromagnetic waves coming out of the touch." That's Coco for ya alright as Matsu said something about that's what he expected. Looking at him wearily he closed one eye as Sani said, "It's not that. I just don't like the feel of your skin. I mean, with your poison." Ah she should of taken bets on that one! She'd a feeling that was the case and it was true! Though she didn't think that the long haird man was such a straight shooter but honesty is always the bedtime way to go. Noticing that the ones he didn't get were already up and already getting ready for a fight so Sani said, "Look, they've gotten into a rage over you, I'm watching out for those heavy cliffs, too. Because I sense their wildness is dangerous. They'd be completely uncontrollable without being on guard. How about this guy?" A roar that was so loud that she quickly covered her ears and right behind the animals was a elephant like animal that was freaken huge and why the hell did it have two trunks?! And are those wings on its back?! Look at those teeth! The animal had brown fur with black stripes all on it's back. Are they gonna gave to contend with that?! Coco took out a bottle of water and drank before saying, "No.." No? The beast started to act funny as if it was trying to get something out of it. "It's already over. But, as expected of this giant body, it'll take a little longer until to get all around it. At that point, it shouldn't be able to move." That seemed to set Toriko and Matsu off. "Poison, already?!" "Coco-San!" They said very highly impressed as Sani pouted off to the side a bit.

"That was fast Coco. Did you do that before or after you got the heavys?" The girl said, very highly impressed, as she put a hand on her hip. The dark man continued to look at the mammoth, as if he was looking at something only he could see. Was there something inside the mammoth? Or...was it someone? "More importantly, the question is...inside the body I can see a different electromagnetic wave inside the mammoth!" Coco said. She hadn't being right cause when she is only bad things are going on. "An enemy has already entered inside of it!" Don't suppose anyone could tell her just HOW something can survive inside? Parasites don't count either! "With that size, we should give it up on bringing it down." Sani said, getting the others attentions. "N' to go directly inside it to get the jewel meat. As expect'd of the bishoukaki, such a raunch vulgar disgustin' idea..!" At the mention of the jewel meat the chef seemed to brighten a lot at that. '_Guess someone wants to try it. Most likely try to serve it at the restaurant.' _ Andrea thought with a slight smile. "This is a race against time... We'll enter inside it, too!" Coco said. She jumped up a bit as that set the feminine man off. "A-?! What are you saying Coco?! There's no way something like that is possible!" "Its possible." The poison man said simply. "I ain't going." Sani shouted while the chef came up to him, eyes sparklingly. For some reason that was kinda scary. "Let's go inside together, Sani-San!" "Why are your eye sparkling Matsu?" She asked as the long haired man shouted the same question. "From here, it would the safest to enter through its bottom." Wait. What did he just say? "Are you kidding Coco?" She asked looking up at him. She tried not to make a dance in relief as she caught a very slight nod from him. Yes! "That's a joke, right! You poison bastard!" Toriko immediately went over to Coco and put his hands on his shoulders. "Sani, be careful about what you say!" The hunter told him as the poison man thought, '_Sani hasn't changed at all since the old days.' _Holding his hands out the feminine man continued. "Generally, it'd be fine if we just steal the jewel meat from the enemy when he comes out with it, right? Well, you can't say it's a beaut'ful way, but it's better than entering inside its body." Getting a familiar chill she looked up and thought she saw something up in the sky but she wasn't sure until suddenly Toriko rushed over and grabbed Sani in a tackle grab. Too bad he couldn't play football, he's got the moves for it. "Watch out, Sani!" The hunter shouted as a bomb like explosion went off, forcing the two to land on their backs. Once the smoke cleared a giant GT robot was standing in front of them. This is just turning out to be a great day!


	13. Regal Mammoth Part 3

"So this is the new model...! That there's this kind of huge GT robo means..!" '_Their not getting laid?' _The girl thought privately to herself and tried not to snicker. "They're rapidly advancing in the gourmet food world! Hu... I'm seriously Urashima Tarou.." Eh? Who the heck was that? "They always fight with their bare hands, like me. This guy has high power , be careful, Coco." Toriko told him as they continued to stare at the robot. One thing is for certain...this guy isn't the one from the cave. The vibe felt completely different. "Yeah, I'm listening, but I'm also verifying if it's the same guy from the sandy beach of the cave. The ability to get the eltrcomagnetic waves transmitted from the operator to real life..! I didn't know his nature then, but if I can grasp his true nature I wouldn't be surprised." Coco told him, eyes never leaving the robo. The two were of one mind as they both agreed that there wasn't any problem if it wasn't the operator from before. The robot looked down at them as if it just noticed them. "This is lucky... For all these famous people to be all together like this! Compared to this guy's jewel meat, getting rid of you guys is more of an achievement, isn't it? Kakakaka. Ah?" The robot said mockingly before really looking at the group. '_Is it just me or is that thing looking at me?' _Andrea thought as the guy said, "Your the girl those guys are after. I'll have to make sure I don't kill you when I get rid of these guys though I don't suppose maiming you wouldn't be too bad."

Toriko narrowed his eyes as he moved slightly in front of the girl. Fat chance he'll give this bastard the chance to get her! "Like I'll let you, you hunk of junk!" The girl growled at the operator. The hunter smirked a bit at that. Even when being threatened by a large robo she still has guts. "A-? Who do you says's gonna get rid of whom? You piece of junk." Sani said as he stepped forward to deal with the GT but the poison man stopped him. "Sani, this one's mine. Everyone, the jewel meat as fast as you can." Coco told the others, stepping forward a bit. "Coco." Sani started before Coco continued. "It seems the new model GT robos can even transmit taste, can't they?" Eh? Is that even possible? Tch. Stupid question. Given the state of things round here robots with the ability to taste food wouldn't be too far fetched. "If by some chance they find it before you, they'll transmit the taste data back to headquarters and probably kill the mammoth. You have to find it before them... Also.. I thought it looking at Toriko, but more so, I think everyone is exhausted. Sani, you too, that you just now drew back your touch had nothing to do with poison, right?" That was the real reason why he drew his touch back? Damn. There's more then meets the eyes here with these men.

The feminine man stared at Coco for a moment before answering, "...Fn... Though you'd go so far as to deceive us with that nonchalant face." "Anyway," the dark man said as he threw off his cloak. "I'll take care of this guy! In that opportunity, enter the mammoth!" Coco looked kinda cool. In response to what the poison man said the jaws or whatever of the robo opened up and prepared an attack even as it said, "Idiot! You'll all die here!" Coco put his thumb and forefinger to his mouth and gave a whistle. "Kiss!" He called out. A black blur came out of the sky and landed an attack on the robo before flying back up into the air and zoomed down at its feet, making the bot falloff ward, sending the GT's attack into the ground. "Go, now!" The poison man called over to the group as the group took the hint and started to run towards the animal. "Thank you, Coco!" Toriko said as he, Andrea and Matsu ran by him. "You here saved us!" The chef said to him, continuing to run. "Good luck, Coco! Have fun!" Andrea told him. He'd be able to handle something like this!

**Bishokukai 6th branch**

The blonde haired man sighed deeply as yet another annoying man showed up. The man had some weird tattoos around his bald man (think he's young) with a bit of tattoo by his eyes with a cat like face. Don't suppose this branch has any normal, or somewhat normal, guys here? What was his name again? Zaiper? "Joejoe! Which number machine is the giant GT robo?!" The man shouted in. Loud angry voice. Ah. That's right. The robot he was using got stepped on by that mammoth, didn't it? "Mm. It's machine 8 but.." The old man started before Zaiper interrupted him. "I'm gonna take down that Gido right now! I'll mangle that bastard!" "Venting your anger from the battle front, Zaiper?" Joejoe asked as the bald man stormed over. "Very unsightly, ya know." Hark said. "Shut up Hark! I mean, if that guy hadn't trampled me I would've made a come back! Geez, so cocky, driving the giant GT robo..." The blonde man sighed. He couldn't wait to get back to the field although the real reason was to personally get a proper first hand look at the girl. And her companions she chose to be around. (Hark suspected that someone had a hand in the selection of her companions. If the blonde haired man didn't know better heck say it was planned. Come on. What were the odds f her even remotely meeting one of yen four heavenly kings?) "Its because there wasn't anyone who could manage it besides Gido (another idiot)... The giant model designed for use against giant beasts.. The effect of its bodily sensation gravity makes it come next in rank to the currently in development micro model in difficulty." The bald man said. Well, the man did make sense once in a while.

Speaking of which isn't that, what's his name, Gido is it?, in a fight or something at the moment if the machine is any indication. "Exactly, right now he's in the middle of combat." Man, Hark was good though the sentence surprise Zaiper. "Combat? His opponent is the mammoth, right? If it's the mammoth, then it's impossible for the mammoth." The bald man said, walking up to the glass to look at the operator. "It's not the mammoth. He's going to have trouble with this one." Hark said. "Acute as always, Hark-San. It's the enemy bishokuya. Coco of the four heavenly kings..!" That name got even his attention. Coco was the one who was highly toxic so that should be quite the fight. That man was on his list (since it was an ever growing one) to fight once. "Coco..?! The one they say has poison in his body..!" The bald catlike man exclaimed in shocked. Joejoe nodded his head slightly. "If it was a flesh and blood fight, the chance of winning would be improbable." The fair haired man said before explaining. "The ocean of death, poison tide, he even cleared its swimming test. As a GT robo, his chances of winning are plenty." That seemed to satisfy the bald man as he replied, "..Hn. If he loses I'm gonna punch him. If he wins though..." "Relax. Whichever path, this time victory will not change. Sedoru-sama (machine number 7) is already inside the mammoth. Furthermore, because now the operating machine number 2 is none other than the Vice Head Chef." Hark smirked slightly as he watched the man freak out. Whatever. Though he does hope that Staa-kun won't get too rough. That girl is with that group that's hunting the mammoth. He touched the necklace the chef brought back for and smirked. Maybe he'll just sneak out one of these days and meet her himself...

**~Andrea's view of things~**

"Ok! Seriously! If we're entering the mammoth then how how we entering?!" The girl exclaimed as the group stopped just in front of it to debate on how to (can't believe she's saying this) enter the mammoth! For the love of everything DON'T tell her their entering from...from...the other end... If so, kill her now cause THAT ain't happening. There's no way she can live with that! Her jaw dropped as Toriko said, "I thought its bottom right?!" Sani freaked out as he shook his head as a hand waved back and forth while saying, "No way! No way no way no way no way! Absolutely no way! If you're doing that I'm going hme already!" "I agree! There's no way I'm doing that! No way!" Without warning a sucking sound was hard and the next moment the group was lifted threw the air, heading towards the mammoth. Her stomach dropped as they got higher. "Ohmigodohmigod!" She started to freak out before quickly covering her eyes with her hands as the others yelled in shock or surprise. "Sani! Can't you stop it somehow?!" Toriko called over to the feminine man. "It's impossible, it's so much power! We're getting completely sucked in!" Sani replied, gritting his teeth. Glancing over to the other two he saw Komatsu screaming and Andrea covering her eyes in terror.

Just as they were about to go through the mammoth's huge trunk. "Kuh...I didn't want to do this but...devil durian!" Rin said as she brought out a small fragrance bottle. Devil durian fragrance: releasing a stench so bad bugs won't come within a half kilometer radius of it. The fragrance was the exploiting the extract of the durian fruit (according to the 8 gourmet laws, the use of it is restricted). As the tomboy got it ready she quickly told the others, "Everyone, pinch your noseeees!" Say wha?! As the girl was about to fire Andrea quickly used a hand to pinch her nose. Stomach lurching as one moment the group was up then suddenly they dropped a ways down and was shot into something. Argh! She has a bad feeling bout this! Opening her eyes the girl kinda wished she hadn't cause now they were inside the mammoth's mouth. '_Uncool!' _Andrea thought as she blankly looked around as the chef cried out, "We...we finally got eaten, Toriko-Saaaan! We're do e for..!" "C...calm down, Matsu. We didn't get eaten yet.." She said, trying to calm both her and the chef down. "Keep your head! Inside the mammoth's mouth is spacious and air is flowing through! I'm glad it's so gigantic!" Toriko told him as he looked around inside the mouth. What's there to look at? There wasn't much to look at and it fricken stunk really bad. At least she's still alive and didn't have a heart attack!

No one believes in staying in the ground and this isn't how she wanted to cure her fear! The hunter gave the group a sharp look as he told them, "Lets invade the body this way! Hurry!" Down the throat?! Well, that beats what he was suggesting earlier! For some reason...whatever they were standing on looked kinda funny... "Hey..." She heard the chef started when a weird sound seemed to fill the mouth...mouth...ooooooooooh shit! "We're standing on top of a tooth, Toriko-San! We'll be pulverized!" "You've gotta be kidding me!" Andrea shouted as the upper jaws slammed down on top of them. She instinctively kneeled down and blinked a bit when grunting was heard coming from the hunters. Looking over she saw that Toriko was straining to hold the jaw up with his arms while Sani used his long hair to do the same. If this wasn't a life or death situation she 'd be extremely impressed by their strength. Quickly taking advantage the girls and Komatsu quickly made a bee line off the tooth and landed on the tongue. Hope those two got a plan! Sani roared before he shouted, "Spatula!" The force of his attack made the jaw go up quite a ways as the giant hunter called over to them, "Now! Run down the throat!" Works for her! The two hunters quickly jumped down over to the others and all rushed down the throat. Strange thing to be running to but at least their in one piece!

Trying her best not to think about what they were heading into the girl went down the throat, screaming as they fell down. Ugh! '_This is the grossiest most disgusting downhill water ride I've ever been on!' _Andrea thought as the group slid down the animal's throat. Without warning the group made a rough ungraceful landing. The girl groaned as she started to sit up. Toriko sat up, rubbing the back of his head and grumbled slightly before complaining to Sani, "D...damn i~~t, would ya make a cushion with your touch. Geez...where are we? Inside the stomach?" "I'd like mine back. Think I lost it somewhere on the ride." The girl muttered as she looked up to see a GT walking past them, the difference between the giant one outside and this one was that it was smaller, it's hair was up like the wind blew it back and wearing a backpack. Great. Just what they need. Not! "G...GT Robo!" Toriko, Matsu and Ein cried out in shock. The robot stared at them and gave a "n" sound. The two hunters and the tomboy got into fighting positions, Komstsu looking like he's gonna freak out soon. Hope the guy from before doesn't show up! The others and the robo had a face off for a few minutes before the robo said in a weary tone, "Well, well... I give up. This place is a total maze."

That threw the men off. Of all the things that was the last thing she'd thought that thing would say. Scratching its chin it, he, whatever, continued, "When the hell did I return to the starting point again?" The two men watched the robo for a few more minutes before the feminine man told Toriko, "Toriko. I got this." "!" Toriko went as he turned to look at him as he continued, "Innards like a maze... What this guy's saying us prob'ly true. To find the jewel meat in these vast innards we'll need to rely on your nose. Take Rin, Matsu and Drea with you and go! Right now! Hurry!" The giant hunter looked a bit taken back at Sani's boldness. "Sani.." Toriko started before looking hard at him then said, "I got it." To the others he said sharply, "Rin! Andrea! Komatsu! We're going!" "Are you sure?" The girl asked as the tomboy asked in a surprised tone, "Eh? But..." The hunter cut her off. "It's all right, hurry!" '_Sani must have something up his sleeve if he's asking us to leave.' _Andrea thought as the robo told them, "Thats rude, you didn't even say hello. If it's for the jewel meat, though we already found it." Eh? Didn't he say he couldn't find it? She wondered as the group ran past him. "Now's a good time to improve your lying ability! There's no smell of meat coming from your body! Just a putrid smell!" The giant hunter yelled at him as he ran.

That got an annoying laugh from the guy. "You caught me~~~Hahahaha!" The robo replied between laughs. Rin and Matsu gave it weird looks as they followed Toriko. '_This is one weird guy.' _Andrea mused as she followed behind the two. Without warning the rob o's face opened up slightly as weird tendrils came out of it as he asked, "Are you three leaving, too?" "Wah!" The two cried out, the chef falling down in surprise. "Gross!" Andrea exclaimed as Sani yelled over to them, "Run! Rin! Matsu! Drea!" Sani's voice seemed to have calmed the robo down cause he backed off bit, saying, "Thats dangerous. There are wild beasts alive in the interior too." Like she cared about that. From the looks of it the robo was being restrained by the feminine man. As she helped the chef get up the thing said, "Good thing I stopped in time. If I killed you the ones we're working with would be pretty pissed off. Though I'm not surprised your not caught, that Haze guy sure is a stupid bastard." Say wha? "What the hell does that mean? Who's after me?!" "Nn...don't wanna tell." Her eyes narrowed a bit and was about to say something when Toriko called over, "Let Sani deal with him! Hurry now, you guys!" Ah hell no! First real lead and he's telling her to forget it!? Not happening! Glancing over in Sani's direction the look on his face said there would be no compromising in this area. "God fucking damnit!" The girl growled under her breath as the three ran over to the giant hunter. "Right!" Rin said as Komatsu called over to the feminine man, "Yeah...thanks a lot, Sani-San!" "Get some damn info outta that bastard! Like hell I'm letting intel get away!" Andrea shouted over as the robo gave an indigant, "Hey!" This sucked on a whole new level of sucking! That guy better get him to talk! "Oi, oi! I thought I told you to be careful on who you pick your fights with!" Toriko yelled at her as the group got further and further away. She thought she heard Sani say something but was too far to hear what it was but what she DID catch was the robo saying, "Think that bastard's around here somewhere." Or something to that affect. The guy, Haze was it?, is here? Terrific! Talk about a good day! Not! Argh!

**~Sani's view of things~**

Unbeliveable. Here he was making a great speech bout how he'd didn't want to go further into the disgusting insides and he'd leave that vulgar duty to them as he'd magnificently remove the enemy! They were gone before he even finished saying it! Tch! The robo moved around a bit as he said, "Now then, let's clear a few things up shall we? The thing that's restraining my movement.." Sani put his hands on his hips and answered, "Hairlock. It seems it's started. Someone who can still move to that extent...has got some decent power." He hate to admit it but he's kinds impressed. "That might be the first time my game ran away right before my eyes. Well, cept the girl. She's someone's else's prey. I think I'll kill you instead." That didn't settle with him at all. Why were these guys after a defenseless girl? For what purpose? "Why're you after the girl? Before you mentioned someone is after her. Who are they?" The robo merely shrugged his shoulders before saying, "Beats me why they'd want some woman. Don't really care either way." The feminine man narrowed his eyes a bit. That's the way it's going to be hm?

**~Andrea's group~**

_'Hope Sani and Coco are doing alright...' _ The girl thought as they continued to follow the scent. Hope they can stop soon cause she's running very low on stamina. So far the anger from before is what was keeping her going so far but it'll run out soon! She's already breathing hard from the exertion. And it's taking everythung she has JUST to keep up with the two superhumans! It also doesn't help that the shirtless hunter wasnt helping! She couldn't keep her eyes off him as the muscles moved as he ran, moving in a fluid motion. "Ne, Toriko.." The tomboy started. "That guy just now... He's strong, isn't he?" "Yeah, he's strong. Considerably so." If that's so then are the others gonna fare pretty well? What a stupid thing to ask...considering their abilities she'd have to say they'd do well. Chances are good that if the others stayed with the. They'd only be in the way which kinda makes sense cause they don't give her the impression that any fights they get into will be tame... "W...will he be okay?! Sani-San by himself.." Matsu started as the giant hunter answered, "There's a reason why Sani made us go ahead. The same with Coco." "Reason?" "Probably so they can go all out without us being in the way. That sound bout right Toriko?" Damn she's good. Right on the mark.

Looking back sharply at them he replied, "Right. So that they can fight all out seriously! At those times like Andrea just reasoned out, we were nothing but a hindrance.." That shook up the small man a bit as he turned pale slightly. "Y...you mean we'd get mix up into it...?" She could see that happening for the poison man but it doesn't sound like that was the case for Sani. "That's the case for Coco... For Sani it's a little different..." Toriko said as Rin flashed them a smile as she said, "Onii-chan's supreme doctrine of beauty right?" That made her think for a moment. Since that guy's all about beauty he would most likely want to show it off but if he sent them away... Does that mean the attacks he has to use are gonna be ugly?

'_**"Filled meat"'s gentle tenderness...to "sirloin"'s finely textured frosting and refined fat's sweetness... The sometimes appearing lean meat near the "shoulder meat" it's gentle feeling of being chewed, the essence spreading through the mouth. Meat you can't stop eating, the unique habit forming of the internal organs. With all the parts tastes combined, the ancient food treasure..jewel meat! Of course, in ancient times jewel meat was a high valued feast, it's said that because of its jewel like radiance it was even used in place of a wedding ring. That was also proof of the strength to take down a regal mammoth. Many men went on journals seeking the jewel meat. Regal Mammoth. The giant mammoth called an ancient food treasure. They grow quickly from birth, so in a matter of weeks their bodies grow to a length of 50 meters. At the time of birth their roughly 10 meters. Their reproductive power is not strong, but it has longtivity with a life containing 500 years. In that time, it never stops growing. Wings: there's a rumor floating around that they used to to fly but now are vestigial, the taste is like poultry hide and has good flavor. Meat: most of the delicousness is taken by the jewel meat but it's still pretty good. Nose: the left inhales and the right exhales. In order to absorb mostly nutrtious substances, there is no digestion function strong enough to melt bones and such. Stomach: there are 12 in total, the stomachs do the digesting. Because of how spacious the body isthere is air flow. Living creatures can inhabit inside, creating a strange ecosystem. Jewel meat: it's in a different location in each animal so locating it is nearly impossible. The retail price is 100g from 500,000 yen.'**_

_'Kinda late and a dollar short there. I could of known bout this a while back.' '**Oi! I've got stuff to do ya know! Can't just watch your sorry ass all the time!'**_She, the voice grumbled at her. **_'You better be paying attention to this stuff! It could help save your life!' '_**_Then where you were when that asshole attacked me?' _Andrea retorted back. Her nerves were already on high, last thing she needed was more crap! **_'Eh? What does that mean?'_**The voice asked, confusion showing. As the girl explained what had happened so far she could of sworn she felt intense anger radiating off from somewhere send a low growl. Once done she, the voice, said in a low tone, **_'Don't you leave Toriko and the others. I'll be right back.' _**_'What does that mean? Hello? Hello!' _Ook. Wonder what that was all about.. Ah well. Hopefully whoever that was wasn't with the team that's after her. But if she was would she be helping her? The jerks so far have kept mentioning taking her alive...so far. '_Hopefully that won't change. It's bad enough I'm making the others worried.' _Andrea thought as she followed the group. Really hope they stop running soon!

**~A while later~**

She sat back and tried to regain her strength as she watched Komatsu cut a slice of meat from the large chunk he had cut off from the mammoth and dipped it into one of the many sauces he collected. '_At least he's having fun.' _Andrea thought with amusement as the chef looked happily at the meat before eating it and got the goofiest look of happiness as he chewed. "Sooo~~~ delicous~~~~s. Such a good level of marbling and soft gentle delicousness.. This area should be around the place of rib roast. I could make a sashimi or just cutting it thinly should be enough." The chef said as he turned his attention to the girls. "Have some too, Rin and Andrea. If you like it, there's some shoyu sauce from the shouyu grasshopper." Rin looked egear to try and went, "Waaa..this is the first time I've eaten regal mammoth. " It'd be more enjoyable if it wasn't for the huge pile of knocked huge snake like animals over yonder by the hunter, who took them on with ease. Man, these guys make it seem easy... "Toriko-San! Do you want some as well?" Matsu called over to Toriko who gave the bunch a slight look of disbelief. "You guys..." The giant hunter started as he dusted off his hands. "Be more considerate about the strange things going on inside this guy right now. The animals inside its body are in a desperate frenzy." Now that he mentions it the animals were freaking out before the hunter got a hold on them.

"Is it because we came in?" The chef asked nervously. "I don't think so. I doubt that we would upset them to such an extent." Toriko held his hands out for a moment before saying, "No. This fiery level of tension wasn't in here when we entered..and the air flow has changed within the body." The hunter brought a finger up to his nose and tapped it, his look serious. "This strong acid smell...there're a lot if digestive enzymes secreting from the stomach. This is evidence that the mammoth is undergoing severe stress...it's as though.." '_It's almost like some kind of virus eating into its own life.. Like a direct rejection to what's entered into the body.' _The hunter thought to himself when suddenly whooshing sounds were heard as the bodies of the snakes were LIFTED into the air. "What the heck?!" Andrea exclaimed in surprise as the hunter swore and yelled, "Damn it, this mammoth. Is it trying to spit out all the foreign substances in its body?!" It's trying to throw them up?! She doesn't think she can handle that AND being inside a animal's stomach on the same day! Toriko quickly looked over before calling over to the others, "Coco's poison's effect is probably abating it! Let's hurry, Komatsu and Andrea! Rin!" "Right! C'mon! It's starting to pick up speed!" The girl called over to the chef as he quickly gathered his items before staring at the meat as the girl and Toriko both called over, "Hurry up, Komatsu! This passage!" (though the last part was said by the hunter. Andrea was just following him) As they ran she couldn't but think that something was wrong. What was it...? '_The usual...always eating something while just walking gourmand Toriko-San...didn't spare even a glance at the rib roast... After all, he didn't eat the sirloin mushroom I had...' _Komatsu thought as the girl unknowingly continued his train of thought. '_Since he didn't eat any of the food that was in front of him is he saving his stomach cause he's looking forward to the jewel meat so much? No. He's a bottomless pit and it doesn't seem that food is even remotely close to the surface it means...awww man does that mean that guy from before is here?! I thought I sensed his energy but I don't have enough confidence in my senses to fully rely on them! And if that's true then we must avoid that possibility of running into him!' __The hunter continued running, following his nose, as he thought with worry heavy in the background. _Could this vicious unshakeable ominous worry he's feeling...could that mean...that guy's here?! There's absolutely no way they could run into him! He grinned his teeth a bit in determination. '_Right now, before anyone else we must find the jewel meat first!'_ The guy who tried to take Andrea before flashed through his mind as rage fueled him on even more at the mere thought of that bastard, Haze, trying to take the girl away again. '_ And if that bastard who tried to take her shows up...I'll be more then happy to solve everyone's problem on that...' _

**_~a while later~_**

For a while now a sense of dread had been slowly filling the girl as the group traveled through the mammoth's stomach. Ever since Toriko lead them to that passage the sense of dread reared it's ugly head. What is with her lately? Her internal senses have never been so sharp before. '_Not completely true.' Andrea mused. 'Ever since I started to mediate I've been slowly opening them all. Maybe it's because I'm in this strange place that I've finally noticed how opened they were.' _That must be the case. The five were currently passing some muscles as the giant hunter up ahead called out, "To the right!" And turned right as he continued to run. Argh! These creatures here aren't going to kill her! If she runs any more she's gonna pass out! Already her muscles were cramping but like hell she's gonna call uncle now! It'll kill her dignity to not even handle so simple a thing as running! Komatsu gave out a cry of delight as he skided to a stop in front of some chamber. "Komatsu? What is it?" The girl asked as she stopped, trying not to pant heavy as she walked over to see what got his attention. She gave a laugh at his expression of happiness as Andrea stood next to him. "What's got you all in a tizzy?" Andrea asked when suddenly a chill came from behind her. Toriko shouted, freaking slightly, "Get out of the way, Komatsu! Andrea!" That confused the chef for a moment as she roughly grabbed him by the arm and tried to drag him away as the hunter threw his intimidation at them, a giant sized hanyuu shouted/growled at them. "GET. OUT. OF. THE. WAY." Her eyes widen slightly at the sight. The sheer size of it! The red skin, bulging with heavy with large muscles and veins, and white hair wasn't unnerving enough it bared its teeth as it lounged forward. "Get down!" She yelled at the chef as she pushed them both down as Rin yelled the hunter's name in surprise.

'_My intimidation using all my might didn't disturb him at all?' _The hunter thought to himself as he easily jumped over the two only to be kicked hard enough to be sent flying threw the air past the others only to land some ways away from them. "Toriko!" Andrea cried out as she quickly turned around to see what hit him. Much to her horror it was the same guy from before. "You've gotta be kidding me.." She growled low as the chef started to freak out and cry as Rin called out Toriko's name as she quickly pulled out a large gun from her back and got ready to fire it. "Fragrance bazooka!" Just as the tomboy fired the robo was RIGHT in her face. '_I...I didn't even see it move. W...What speed!' _ The girl thought in slight amazement. "Get away from her, you bastard!" Andrea growled as a second later the two watched in shock as the robo put a hand through her stomach. Eyes widening she said in shock, "Rin!" W..what is this guy?! Quickly scanning for the giant hunter she saw he was done for the count. Shit! This is worse than the devil snake! A thud was heard and she whipped her head in time to see the other girl fall to the ground. "Rin-San! Toriko-saaaaan!" Komatsu cried out in despair. Much as she wanted to tell the small guy everything would be ok the situation was slapping her right in the gave that the probability of it BEING alright was far, far indeed. Andrea watched ad the robo started heading their way she growled low and put the chef behind her protectively, ignoring his cry of "Andrea!?". '_I may not be much,' _Andrea thought grimly as she eyed the robo warily. '_I'll be damned if I just rolled over for this guy!' _Glancing over to the hunter in the other chamber her heart gave a hard pang. Please, please, PLEASE be alright! She heard Rin say something but was too far away to hear properly and much to her shock smoke was coming out from her glove.

Even in her condition she was more worried about Toriko than herself?! Since that's so then that must be endorphin to ease pain. The girl gritted her teeth in frustration. The two that needed the most help were the ones still fighting yet she didn't have scarp of a chance to even land A blow on this guy let alone fight him. As much as she was loathed to admit it but she would anything for a scrap of power to at least defend herself! Suddenly the guy was right there in their faces, causing the chef to cry in fear a bit. The girl flinched very lightly as it spoke. "If your not a hindrance then you won't even die...like that time at the sandy beach of the cave.." It spoke evenly. Feeling Komatsu shake a bit as it talked she said, trying to talk in an even voice, "Then why did you take my necklace? I wasn't bothering you one bit." Her blood ran cold a bit ad it looked her in the eyes and was about to reply when a hand that appeared on its shoulder stopped it as the owner of the hand said, "Hey..who're you saying's dead?" Oh man! Andrea thought her heart was gonna stop in pure happiness and relief at the sight of Toriko, who looked must worse for wear but sure as heck surprised the robo. She blinked in amazement as she watched first hand the punch that sent the bot flying away from them. The guy was a complete mess, panting heavily from the extortion. Toriko turned his attention to Rin, who had blood coming from her mouth and whole body shaking. Rin! She rushed over as the hunter kneeled by her. "To...ri..." The girl panted as Toriko said gently, "Don't talk, Rin." The tomboy ignored him as she continued. "The...scar...under my eye...this...ne... I caused it...myself.. Just like... Toriko's ...uhhhhu...I mixed up...the left and right...but I stopped at one line..."

She really likes him, doesn't she? Andrea wondered as the two got quiet. "It'll be alright, Rin. You'll see. Once we get out of here we'll get you fixed up. So don't get any funny ideas!" Andrea said as she took hold of one of Rin's hands. The girl gave a quiet chuckle but she continued. "Oi! I'm not lying! Everything WILL be ok! Trust me!" The tomboy stared at her silently, trying to believe in her words even though the reality said it was impossible. "Andrea.." Toriko said as they watched her gently close her eyes. Closing her own eyes she turned away, trying hard not to cry and believe in the feeling in her gut was true. Suddenly Andrea felt the power and anger radiating off the hunter in waves as he growled in anger, "GT Robo!" Watching in amazement as the giant man shot off and growled out, "GT Roboooooo Fork!" The fork attack just grazed the robo's jaw, chipping off a piece, and repaid Toriko by punching him directly in the gut. The hunter coughed up blood ad he proceeded to use his other attack. "Knife!" Toriko said ad he made a large slice on the jaw again. "Toriko..." The girl said quietly as she watched him power up for the ren attack. Once he reached 6 he powered housed the robo hard, forcing it to tumble as it once again flew threw the air. "From the beginning Rin was prepared to die. Wildness is something she always had nearby." Toriko started, wearing the most serious and pissed off face she's ever seen. (She hated to admit it but he's kinda hot like that) Bringing a clenched fist to eye level he continued, "For you guys who do not have that preparedness for death, you don't even have wildness..! I'll convey that to you..! To you, so far away.." His look got real dark as shivers of slight fear went through her as he finished. "The fear...of death!"

The robo was too far away to hear what it was saying but from the looks of it, if Andrea didn't know any better, Toriko was evolving. **_'Once there was a legendary Bishokuya admired as gourmet god...Bishokuya Acacia...! He who had done food break down on every ingredient of this world, the final place he aimed was the deep sea. There he would see heaven.. That heaven was not the dazzling spectacle..it was taste. He became speechless.. In the little good flavor of that fish was an Indescribable degree of deliciousness. His body was engulfed in an unbelievable sensation of great happiness. That was emotional moving as a baby's first cry. From there, the days of his studying began.. As a result of the long study, Acacia finally discovered that source.. It was a little a jellyfish whose body changes and evolves little by little as it's body regenerates. Look, you get the idea right? Or should I explain everything to you, hon?' _**_'H...hon?! Who the hell are you?! Your not the one from before!' _Andrea demanded mentally to it. This voice was male and for some reason she didn't like how it felt. "Autophagy is activating. Have you been fasting? At any rate it's an omen the cells are evolving!" The robo said as Toriko stood angrily in front of it. _**'When the body falls into a state of hunger for nutrition, a living thing will disassemble its own cells proteins into amino acids. This is in order to temporarily gain energy. Toriko in one day consumes a few hundreds of thousands to a few millions of kilocalories of energy. Which means that should he fast for even a small while it'll cause damage to his life.'**_That she didn't know. No wonder he had to eat like a pig! If he doesn't he could possibly die!

Ever since they came to this island he's been non stop fighting so additional nourishment was a must have. But...since they arrived at the mammoth he didn't eat anything which means...his body must of fell into a state of nutrition hunger which invoked autophagy! So...in order to avoid a crisis of life the gourmet cells ate themselves which caused them to evolve? Argh! This is making her head hurt as the two watched the hunter shot towards the enemy at tremendous speed and used fork and knife only to have him block the attacks. As the jaws of the robo opened the hunter grabbed both sides of it and slammed it shut while yelling, "Close!" And gave it a head butt. Yeah. That's his style alright. Still holding it by its head Toriko spun it around a few times before tossing letting it go, causing an explosion of dust and debris to fly about. Quickly leaning over Rin she did her best to protect the girl from the stuff as the chef yelled, "Toriko-San!"


End file.
